Tomorrow is the deadline for companies to report their gender pay gap. Firms who have not yet published their data need to get their skates on. They’ve had fair warning. Excuses will not do.

And it’s right to take gender pay reporting seriously. The results so far make for eye-watering reading. The majority of firms – as many as three in four – pay men on average more than they pay women. And in some firms, the gap is 40pc, 50pc or higher. The data show how far we have to go to create equal opportunities for men and women in the workplace.

Now, one thing must be made 
clear. The gender pay gap is not in general about women being paid less for the same job. That’s not to say this doesn’t happen...