What you need to know about menopause action plans

How to build a menopause action plan that complies with the requirements of the Employment Rights Act.

From spring 2027, UK employers with 250 or more employees must publish a menopause action plan. Thisis what the law requires, when it applies, and what a strong plan includes.

What is a menopause action plan?

A menopause action plan is a written, published document. It sets out the steps an employer is taking to support employees through perimenopause, menopause and post-menopause.

A menopause policy does a different job. A policy sets out principles, such as your position on flexible working, sickness absence, or how managers should handle conversations about symptoms. An action plan is narrower and more accountable. It names specific, evidenced actions, says whether each one is new or already embedded, and is published alongside your gender pay gap data.

A policy on its own won't meet the new legal requirement. The action plan is the document the Employment Rights Act 2025 asks large employers to produce.

Is a menopause action plan a legal requirement?

Yes, for large employers from 2027. The timeline and the detail are worth knowing before you brief leadership.

Since April 2026, employers with 250 or more employees have been able to publish a voluntary Equality Action Plan alongside their annual gender pay gap report. It covers two areas: steps to close the gender pay gap, and steps to support employees experiencing menopause.

From spring 2027, publishing this plan becomes mandatory for the same employers. The Employment Rights Act 2025 is the first piece of UK legislation to reference menopause explicitly. Mandatory reporting is expected to apply from the 2027/28 reporting year, subject to secondary legislation.

Four points to include in any leadership briefing:

The threshold is 250 employees. Smaller organisations aren't in scope yet. The government encourages them to adopt a plan voluntarily, and guidance for smaller employers is expected on gov.uk.
Menopause sits inside a wider Equality Action Plan. There's no standalone menopause law. "Menopause action plan" is shorthand for the menopause half of that duty. The other half covers the gender pay gap.
Menopause isn't a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010. Symptoms can still form the basis of sex, age or disability discrimination claims. This applies most where they have a substantial, long-term effect on someone's ability to do their job. In those cases you may have a duty to make reasonable adjustments, whatever the reporting rules say.
Tribunal risk is already rising. Acting before the 2027 deadline reduces your legal exposure and shows employees you're taking this seriously.

What should a menopause action plan include?

The government has published a menu of 18 recommended, evidence-informed actions across five categories. You must choose at least two: one that addresses the gender pay gap and one that supports employees experiencing menopause. The guidance encourages employers to go beyond the minimum.

The five categories are:

Recruiting staff, such as inclusive job design and flexible working from day one
Developing and promoting staff, including mentoring, sponsorship and progression support
Building diversity into the organisation, including representation targets
Increasing transparency on pay, promotion and reward decisions
Supporting employees experiencing menopause

For each action, you state whether it's new or in progress, or embedded (already established working practice). At least two of your chosen actions must be new or in progress. Restating what you already do won't meet the requirement.

How to structure and submit your plan

Government guidance sets out six steps:

Understand your organisation's issues. Use workforce and gender pay gap data to find where support is needed.
Choose your actions. Pick at least two from the 18, split as above.
Write the supporting narrative.
Submit the plan through the government's gender pay gap service, alongside your pay gap data.
Track outcomes so you know whether each action is working.
Review the plan every year. It's expected to change as your data changes.

The guidance also asks employers to consider overlapping disadvantage. Menopause support may need to look different for employees with other health conditions or from different backgrounds. Workforce demographic data helps you pick actions that fit the people you employ.

What a strong plan looks like

Plans that go beyond the compliance minimum tend to have four things in common:

A named clinical or specialist support offer. An Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) offers general wellbeing support. Menopause symptoms often need a clinician who specialises in them.
Mandatory manager training. A policy only works if the manager having the conversation knows how to have it.
Data-led targeting. Absence, attrition and engagement data broken down by age and gender shows where support is landing and where it isn't.
A named owner and a review cadence, so the plan stays live between annual submissions.

This also makes the case to leadership easier. Unsupported menopause symptoms show up as absence, presenteeism and people leaving, and experienced staff are expensive to replace. A credible, well-evidenced plan helps with retention and your employer brand as well as compliance.

Download Peppy's Menopause Action Plan template here.