The planned regulations will apply to businesses in England, Wales and Scotland with more than 250 employees, reports The BBC.
Women and equalities minister Nicky Morgan said the move was a “first step” but would “concentrate minds”.
The TUC said the measures should include medium-sized businesses and come with fines for non-compliance.
The Chartered Management Institute said the new legislation would “force transparency” on companies.
The plan on bonuses is the first of a number of “equality-boosting measures” to be set out in detail this week and hopefully introduced in the first half of 2016, according to Downing Street.
Other steps include:
- Every company with more than 250 employees will be required by law to publish the difference between the average pay of their male and female employees
- The requirements will be extended to the public sector as well as private and voluntary sector employers
- A target to include women on the boards of all the UK’s top 350 companies will be introduced – after the aim of getting women into at least a quarter of boardroom seats in FTSE 100 firms was met
Details of exactly what companies must publish and when the scheme will begin will be announced after the results of a consultation, which concluded in September, are released.
