Four in 10 people are not aware that women have a right to equal pay while only a quarter of women say their workplace is open about the issue of wages, a new study has found.

The research, carried out by the Fawcett Society, found only a third of people know women possess the legal right to probe male co-workers about how much money they earn if they suspect they are suffering pay discrimination.

Equal pay law in the UK is “not fit for purpose” and there is a grave ignorance among a “shocking amount” of people towards issues of equal pay, the women’s rights organisation warned.