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:

• address 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 asked to select at least 2 actions to include in their plan.

Where these changes apply

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

For more information:

• read our fact sheet on equality action plans and outsourcingopens assets.publishing.service.gov.uk in a new tab.
• see guidance on creating an action plan.opens www.gov.uk in a new tab
• see a list of actionsopens www.gov.uk in a new tab to reduce your gender pay gap and support employees experiencing menopause

Read more guidance on supporting employees experiencing menopause in the workplaceopens www.acas.org.uk in a new tab, including for small businesses, on the Acas website.

Acas also have a webinarsopens www.acas.org.uk in a new tab and trainingopens obs.acas.org.uk in a new tab available (fees apply).