Morning, Friday, 8th January 2027
Online
This conference will examine preparations for the next phase of workplace equality reform affecting women in 2027. Areas for discussion include employer readiness for new duties and enforcement arrangements under the Employment Rights Act 2025, workplace culture and harassment prevention, women's health, labour market participation and progression, and next steps for reform of the equal pay framework.
It will bring together stakeholders and policymakers to consider the practical implications of measures due in 2027 under the Government’s updated implementation timetable, including changes affecting flexible working, job security, working hours and employer equality duties. Implementation of new rights to guaranteed hours will be considered, alongside notice of shifts and to payment when shifts are moved or cancelled at short notice, including outstanding questions around application. With consultation ongoing around Equal pay and pay discrimination, attendees will look ahead to the next phase of pay transparency and enforcement reform.
Delegates will also assess the early impact of employment rights reform introduced across 2026 - including changes to Statutory Sick Pay, day one paternity and unpaid parental leave, and strengthened protections against workplace harassment - and how far they are operating as intended in practice. Sessions will also consider latest thinking on wider issues for women’s occupational health, retention and return to work following periods of ill-health.
Discussion will explore practicalities for effective implementation of new measures and enforcement arrangements proportionately across organisations of different sizes and sectors, including operational impact, costs, workforce planning and management capability, amid concerns from some that employer awareness of new duties remains uneven. Sessions will assess what employers, regulators and delivery bodies need to prepare for, including the developing role of the Fair Work Agency.
Employment Rights Act implementation, harassment prevention & employer readiness
Sessions will explore preparation for the 2027 measures, looking at how employers are adapting to strengthened duties relating to sexual harassment and harassment by third parties, in force since October 2026, and whether policies are being matched by management capability and training in practice.
Areas for discussion include:
- early experience: impact of changes to Statutory Sick Pay and new parental rights - employee awareness and take-up - six-month unfair dismissal qualifying period - fire and rehire protections
- harassment prevention: what ‘all reasonable steps’ requires in practice - risks in customer-facing roles - confidence in reporting routes - regulation of NDAs in harassment and discrimination cases
- 2027 measures:
- flexible working reasonableness test - updated Acas Code of Practice - guaranteed hours, shift notice and short-notice payments
- dismissal protections for pregnant women and new mothers
- employer capacity: implications by sector, workforce model and employer size - organisational, financial and workforce impacts - effects on recruitment of part-time and entry-level staff
- enforcement and guidance: implementation timetable, dispute prevention and enforcement - Fair Work Agency responsibilities and capacity - tribunal demand following extension of time limits to six months
Women's health, retention & return to work
The agenda will explore how far employer approaches are supporting more women to remain in work and return following periods of ill-health, and where gaps in occupational health provision and line management persist. As menopause action plans become mandatory, discussion will consider what distinguishes meaningful support from minimum compliance, and what may be appropriate for smaller employers outside the duty.
Areas for discussion include:
- occupational health: support for menopause, menstrual and reproductive health, endometriosis, fertility treatment and long-term conditions - access for employees of smaller organisations
- prevention and retention:
- lessons from Keep Britain Working Vanguard scheme approaches to prevention, retention and return to work
- Healthy Working Lifecycle standard development - stay-in-work plans
- workplace practice: management skills and organisational adjustments - confidence, confidentiality and proportionate delivery - assessing evidence of what action plans are achieving
- bereavement and loss: two weeks’ bereavement leave, including pregnancy loss before 24 weeks - implications of leave being unpaid for take-up - support for partners and parents
Labour market participation, progression & regional approaches
Further sessions will consider where barriers to women's participation and progression remain, from childcare support and job design to uneven access to professional development and senior roles. The agenda will also explore the role of strategic authorities and place-based approaches following the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026, and the extent to which regional interventions complement national employment and skills provision.
Areas for discussion include:
- entry and return: support following maternity leave, caring responsibilities and periods of ill-health - flexible job design and employer support mechanisms - childcare availability and affordability
- growth sectors: recruitment and retention in shortage sectors - training and progression in STEM, digital and green roles - early careers support and guidance
- leadership: sponsorship pipelines, succession planning and senior representation - role of employers in tackling intersectional barriers to advancement - pace of progress into executive roles
- intersectional barriers:
Equal pay, transparency & enforcement
Further sessions will examine next steps following the consultation on framework reform for Equal pay and pay discrimination, and whether gender pay gap reporting since 2017 has translated into meaningful organisational change. Attendees will consider how a more preventative model of enforcement and proposed changes to transparency might operate in practice, alongside gender pay gap reporting and the shift to mandatory action plans.
Areas for discussion include:
- consultation: assessing proposals and the Government’s response - timing and phasing of implementation - extension of protections to race and disability
- enforcement model: proposals for an Equal Pay Regulatory and Enforcement Unit - regulatory and tribunal interaction - early intervention and resolution of discrimination
- pay transparency: across recruitment and progression - pay information, job evaluation and audits - what is required to move from compliance and reporting towards meaningful organisational change
- costs and certainty: enforcement resources, legal certainty and SME capability - pay equity in outsourcing arrangements
- lifetime outcomes: implications for longer-term income potential and pension outcomes - effects of part-time work and career breaks on earnings
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 Department for Business, innovation, Science and Trade; Department of Health and Social Care; Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport; HM Prison and Probation Service; HM Revenue and Customs; Home Office; National Wealth Fund; and The Scottish Government.
