Business hit out at the “extremely disappointing” raft of proposed employment legislation unveiled on Wednesday, including measures that could force employers to disclose information on their workforce, new flexible working rights for 4.5m staff and new rights to request training for millions more employees.

The most obviously contentious element in a new equality bill is “positive action” – a proposal to allow employers to choose between two “equally suitable” candidates on the basis of gender or race. The proposed legislation will also ban “secrecy clauses” that bar staff from disclosing their pay.