Employer Action Plans

Employers with 250 or more employees now have the option to produce and publish a voluntary action plan alongside their gender pay gap data. These will become mandatory from spring 2027, subject to secondary legislation.

The purpose of the action plan is to support employers to take effective action to improve workplace gender equality, advancing equality of opportunity between male and female employees.

As set out in the Employment Rights Act 2025, action plans will show the steps you are taking to:

● reduce your organisation’s gender pay gap.

● support employees experiencing menopause.

The government has published a selection of actions, informed by evidence, that employers can take.

Eligible employers will be able to choose at least two actions that best showcase their work to reduce their gender pay gap and support employees experiencing menopause.

Territorial extent

This measure, once mandatory, will mirror the territorial extent of existing gender pay gap reporting requirements. It will apply to large private sector employers in England, Scotland and Wales; as well as English and specific cross-border public authorities.

More information

Creating an action plan: guidance for employersopens www.gov.uk in a new tab (overview page)

Action guidance pagesopens www.gov.uk in a new tab for the 18 individual actions

Additional guidance, including for small employers, on measures to support employees experiencing menopause in the workplace: Managing the menopause - Menopause at work - Acasopens www.acas.org.uk in a new tab