The Gender Equality Act 2020 came into effect earlier this year. The legislation was introduced by the government to show a commitment to achieving gender equality within the public sector.  As a result, all public sector departments and agencies that have more than 50 employees are now required under law to complete an internal review of their policies, procedures and staff-makeup for their impact on gender inequality within the workplace.

The recently appointed Public Sector Gender Equality Commissioner, Dr Niki Vincent, will hold departments to account for their identification and implementation of change using a publicly available Gender Equality Action Plan (GEAP).

For a GEAP to successfully meet the requirements of the Act, it must include the results of an internal audit which considers the following seven indicators of gender equality:

•    gender pay equity
•    gender composition at all levels of the workforce
•    gender composition of governing bodies
•    workplace sexual harassment
•    recruitment and promotion
•    gendered work segregation
•    leave and flexibility

A successful GEAP must also include an assessment of intersectionality within the workplace, specifically how inequality can be impacted through disadvantage and discrimination based on (but not limited to) race, age, disability, religion and sexual identity.

The first GEAP is due on 1 December 2021.