8th March 2026

What's changing

The government has introduced Equality Action Plans linked to gender pay gap reporting. 

From April 2026, employers with 250 or more employees will be encouraged to publish an Equality Action Plan alongside their gender pay gap data on the government’s gender pay gap reporting service. 

Publishing a plan will be voluntary in the first year. The government intends to make Equality Action Plans mandatory from 2027, subject to further legislation. 

These plans are intended to show the steps employers will take to: 

• reduce their gender pay gap
• support employees experiencing menopause
• you can read the government guidance here.

What employers are expected to include 

According to the guidance, employers must choose: 

• at least one action related to the gender pay gap
• at least one action related to menopause support

The guidance encourages organisations to go further and include additional actions where possible. 

Employers can also highlight work they are already doing to improve gender equality in their workplace. 

Examples of actions employers could take 

The government guidance suggests a range of possible actions, including: 

Recruitment 

• Making job descriptions more inclusive
• Advertising flexible working arrangements in job adverts
• Advertising leave policies in job adverts
• Encouraging applications from a range of candidates
• Reducing unconscious bias in CV screening
• Using structured interview techniques 

Career development and promotion 

• Automatically considering eligible employees for promotion
• Supporting employee development with clear progression steps
• Offering mentoring or sponsorship programmes 

Transparency 

• Increasing transparency around pay, promotion and rewards
• Clearly communicating leave policies and flexible working entitlements 

Representation 

• Setting targets to improve gender representation 

Menopause support 

• Training managers to support employees experiencing menopause
• Reviewing workplace policies to reflect menopause needs
• Offering occupational health advice
• Providing workplace adjustments
• Creating menopause support networks
• Conducting menopause risk assessments 

These are examples, not requirements. Employers are encouraged to choose the actions most relevant to their workforce.

Intersectionality and workplace equality 

The guidance also encourages employers to consider how employees’ experiences may differ depending on characteristics such as: 

• ethnicity
• disability
• socioeconomic background 

However, the guidance does not require employers to measure or report these differences. 

If this is important to you, you may want to ask how your organisation plans to consider the experiences of different groups of women when developing its Equality Action Plan.

Relevant legal context: menopause and workplace equality 

Menopause itself is not a protected characteristic under the Equality Act. 

However, severe menopause symptoms may qualify as a disability if they have a substantial and long-term impact on daily activities. 

If this threshold is met, employers may need to consider reasonable adjustments to support employees. 

Employment tribunal cases involving menopause have increased in recent years, often involving issues such as discrimination or workplace adjustments. 

“The gender pay gap in the UK is closing too slowly. Reporting alone is not closing the pay gap fast enough, while too many women are dropping out of the labour market due to lack of support with menopause. The Equality Action Plans are a welcome step in the right direction, and in tandem with pay gap reporting are an essential part of women’s economic empowerment. But while the action plans remain voluntary for the next year, we will continue to work with the Government to incorporate further pay transparency measures into the final, compulsory action plans. The action plans are a rare opportunity to solidify women’s equal participation in the workforce, so it is vital that they are as detailed, robust and comprehensive as possible. Only once measures in the action plans are mandated with full pay transparency measures, will we see real change and the gender pay gap begin to close. ” 

Penny East, Chief Exec, Fawcett