Morning, Monday, 27th April 2026
Online
This conference will consider next steps for women in the workplace in the UK, following the Employment Rights Act 2025 coming into law.
It will bring together key stakeholders and policymakers to discuss priorities for implementing new employer duties and protections as they come into force, and what will be needed in practice to support fairer work and pay, safer workplaces, and improved progression and retention.
Duties & implementing protections under the Employment Rights Act
The agenda will consider issues arising from phased commencement, including implementation of day-one protections from April 2026, and what this may mean for workforce planning, recruitment practices and organisational policies. Attendees will also look at implications and next steps following the Government’s recent consultation proposals to introduce enhanced protections against dismissal for pregnant women and new mothers, and to expand bereavement leave, including pregnancy loss.
Further discussion is expected on how to provide legal certainty and reduce scope for unintended consequences, alongside strategic considerations for employers in reconciling strengthened protections with organisational and commercial practicalities. Delegates will also assess approaches to guidance and enforcement, including the anticipated role of the Fair Work Agency, and concerns raised by some employer groups around the need for clearer guidance, transitional support and regulatory capacity to implement reform.
Workplace culture, leadership & tackling discrimination
Delegates will consider practical approaches to creating safe and inclusive workplace cultures, including strategies for tackling discrimination and improving confidence in reporting and redress.
Compliance with enhanced duties to prevent workplace harassment will be discussed, including measures onwards from October 2026 requiring employers to demonstrate they have taken all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment, alongside assuming direct liability for harassment by third parties.
Sessions will assess what may be needed to embed culture change in practice. Looking at effective practices, and how challenges in implementation might be addressed, areas for discussion include workforce strategies, preventative measures, and putting in place capability within management and senior leadership to identify and challenge inappropriate workplace behaviours. Attendees will also consider issues emerging around expanded flexible working rights and employee protections, including the interaction between statutory duties and voluntary employer initiatives, and what this may mean for policy design, management skills and training, and reporting and redress arrangements.
Supporting women’s health & reducing barriers to workforce participation
Further discussion will focus on support for women’s health, including access to healthcare, implementing Menopause Action Plans, and integrating menstrual, reproductive and menopause support into HR policy. Attendees will consider practical implications for operational strategy and practice of forthcoming changes to Statutory Sick Pay - including eligibility from day-one, removal of the lower earnings limit and earnings-based pay - alongside the expansion of support schemes such as WorkWell.
We expect discussion to draw on wider findings from the Keep Britain Working: Final Report, including implications of rising health-related economic inactivity for workforce participation and retention, questions about the balance of responsibility between employers, the health system and individuals, and priorities for earlier intervention, workplace adjustments and access to occupational health support.
Recruitment, retention & progression
The conference will look at next steps for supporting women’s career development, including practicalities and best practice for employers in taking forward provision of access to targeted careers support and networking opportunities, effective mentoring and sponsorship pipelines, and mechanisms for identifying and addressing bias across recruitment, progression and senior promotion pathways.
Attendees will examine ways that maternity discrimination, childcare costs and the pension gap can be addressed, and what will be necessary in terms of possible policy development, and financial and wellbeing support, to adequately tackle these issues.
Practical options will be explored, including the impact of flexible working patterns, and implementation of family-friendly policies, and maternity and paternity support, in facilitating retention and progression, particularly for those with caring responsibilities or who have taken career breaks. Cost, efficiency and resourcing challenges for employers will also be explored.
Equality legislation, pay gap reporting & related proposals
We also expect consideration of the draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill and related proposals on mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting, including practicalities for gathering and publishing intersectional data, alignment with Equality Action Plans, treatment of agency and outsourced workforces, and differing views on monitoring and enforcement.
Alongside pay gap reporting, discussion will consider options for addressing the gender pension gap, currently estimated to stand at 48% between men and women aged 55-59, and what this may mean for employers, workers and representative bodies in sectors with predominantly female workforces, including health and social care and retail.
All delegates will be able to contribute to the output of the conference, which will be shared with parliamentary, ministerial, departmental and regulatory offices, and more widely. This includes the full proceedings and additional articles submitted by delegates. As well as key stakeholders, those already due to attend include officials from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government; Department for Business and Trade; HM Revenue and Customs; Intellectual Property Office; National Crime Agency; HM Prison and Probation Service; Office for Investment; Home Office; the Welsh Government; and The Scottish Government.
