Research carried out by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has suggested that the gender pay gap means women effectively work for free for the first 48 days of the year.

The business group found that in some industries and regions where the gender pay gap is wider, women effectively work for free for even longer.

It stated that the government’s Employment Rights Bill will help close the gap by making employers with over 250 employees outline their plans for reducing the pay gap.

The TUC also said that the Employment Rights Bill will be a ‘huge boost’ for working women due to the introduction of a right to sick pay from day one and banning zero-hours contracts that disproportionally affect women.

Paul Nowak, General Secretary of the TUC, said: ‘Everyone should be paid fairly for the job that they do.

‘But working women are still waiting for pay parity.

‘The Employment Rights Bill can help to close the gender pay gap by banning exploitative practices like zero-hours contracts that hit women the hardest.’