What is a Gender Equality Action Plan (GEAP)?

An Equality Action Plan, often called a Gender Equality Action Plan or GEAP, is a duty introduced by the Employment Rights Act 2025. UK employers with 250 or more employees must publish a plan setting out action on the gender pay gap and on supporting employees through the menopause. Plans are voluntary from April 2026 and become mandatory from spring 2027.

Does a GEAP need to cover fertility treatment?

No. The prescribed topics are the gender pay gap and menopause support. Fertility treatment is not legally required content. Government guidance encourages employers to go beyond the minimum, and many extend their plan to fertility support because treatment affects the same workforce the plan protects. That extension is voluntary best practice, not a statutory duty.

How does OccuFertility help employers who extend their plan to fertility?

OccuFertility provides the employee-side tools (check-in using PHQ-4 and WAI-1, GP summary, manager brief, OH referral template) and employer-side analytics (anonymised aggregate wellbeing dashboard, k-anonymity enforced) needed to evidence a voluntary fertility commitment in an Equality Action Plan.

Equality Action Plans

Equality Action Plans and Fertility - 2027 Employer Guide

Equality Action Plans (GEAPs) become mandatory for UK employers with 250 or more employees from spring 2027. The law prescribes action on the gender pay gap and menopause support. Fertility is not a required topic, and that is exactly why extending your plan to it sets you apart. Here is how.

Published 17 June 2026

The Duty

What Is an Equality Action Plan?

An Equality Action Plan, often called a Gender Equality Action Plan or GEAP, is a duty introduced by the Employment Rights Act 2025. Employers with 250 or more employees, the same group that already reports its gender pay gap, must publish one. Plans are voluntary from April 2026 and become mandatory from spring 2027.

The law prescribes two areas: action on the gender pay gap, and support for employees going through the menopause. Fertility treatment is not a prescribed topic.

Government guidance encourages employers to go beyond the minimum, and fertility support is the most natural place to start: treatment affects the same workforce the plan is designed to protect, and the support cannot simply be asserted, it needs to be evidenced. For the statutory menopause side of a plan, the Hormonal Health Equity Initiative covers what a credible plan requires.

Voluntary Extension

Extending Your Plan to Fertility: What Good Looks Like

A written policy alone is not enough. A fertility commitment in your plan is only credible if you can show the support actually reached employees, which means data.

A written fertility and reproductive health policy
Reasonable adjustment commitment for appointments and treatment side effects
A voluntary disclosure process with confidentiality protections
An Occupational Health referral pathway
Aggregate data on how treatment is affecting employee wellbeing and work ability

The Evidence Layer

How OccuFertility Helps

Employee Side

Structured check-in (PHQ-4 + WAI-1), GP summary, manager brief, OH referral template. Employees own their data and decide what to share.

Employer Side

Anonymised aggregate wellbeing dashboard. No individual data. K-anonymity enforced (250 dataset / 50 per-bucket). Gives employers the evidence layer if they extend an Equality Action Plan to fertility.

Policy Support

The Workplace Fertility Check walks HR teams through the elements a good fertility policy needs, including the components relevant to a voluntary fertility extension of an Equality Action Plan.

Ready to Extend Your Plan?

For Employers Workplace Fertility Check