78% of UK companies are paying men more than women, data reveals
Nearly eight out of 10 companies and public sector bodies pay men on average more than women, figures have revealed.
Firms with 250 employees or more were required to submit data on mean and median gender pay gaps to the Government Equalities Office by midnight on Wednesday.
More than 10,000 companies submitted their data to avoid facing legal action, and there was a last-minute dash to file the information before the deadline.
Find out the gender pay gap at your workplace here.
The rest of the employers either have no median gender pay gap (8%) or one in favour of women (14%).
Ryanair in top 10 with the worst median gender pay gaps
Ryanair pays women 71.8% less than men on average - when comparing median hourly rates, for every £1 men earn, women earn just 28p.
The airline says the disparity is because of the number of UK pilots it employs - 546 are male and only eight are female.
80% gap at parent company of Millwall FC
The parent company of Millwall FC, reported a median gender pay gap of 80%, compared to an average across all companies who have submitted data of 12%
Millwall Holdings PLC, also based at The Den, Zampa Road, reported that 3% of women get bonuses compared to 29% of men, while women's median bonus pay was 99% lower than that of their male counterparts.
The 10 companies with the highest median gender pay gaps
NWN Media - 85.2%
Millwall Holdings PLC - 80%
GoToDoc - 77.0%
Boux Avenue - 75.7%
Fusion People - 73.3%
Aaron Services - 73.0%
Malling Health - 73.0%
Ryanair - 71.8%
Connells Survey and Valuation - 71.0%
Fosse Healthcare - 69.8%
BT among firms with gap in favour of women
At the other end of the scale, American Airlines had a gap in favour of women (-3.9%) as did British Telecommunications (-2.3%).
No wage gap at Primark and McDonalds
Primark, McDonald's and Costa were among those reporting no median wage gap.
Sam Smethers, chief executive of the Fawcett Society, said: "Gender pay gap reporting is a game changer in terms of workplace culture and practices.
It forces employers to look at themselves and understand their organisations and it prompts employees to ask some hard questions.
"But even better than that, finally women are realising that they have a right to talk about pay and they cannot be silenced.
A spokesman for the Institute for Fiscal Studies said: "The gender wage gap has barely fallen over the last 15 years and greater understanding of its determinants are needed.
"The new data being provided by employers could help contribute to that. As ever, however, the statistics are limited and need to be interpreted with care."
The gender pay gap is calculated as the difference between the average salaries of men and women - it is not the same as equal pay, where firms are required to pay people doing the same job the same salary regardless of gender.