Publishing the name of companies that have unequal pay policies “is a measure to apply pressure” as people can “make decisions to buy goods and services based on that information,” said the member of parliament for the social democrat party (PSD) and former minister Teresa Morais at a press conference in the Portuguese parliament.

“If public opinion knows that there are companies that have unequal salaries with no objective justification, it can act on the market to penalise them,” Morais said.

She added that sanctions also had to be put in place if companies do not publish payscales by professional category, split by gender, taking into account of all components of the salaries.

PSD is suggesting that the Labour Code will stipulate a serious misdemeanour if medium-sized and large companies do not publish, at the request of the public authorities, information about salaries.

Depending on the size of the company the fine can be up to €5,000.