Gender pay gap and menopause action plan
Ashcombe Fabrication Group
Prepared 17 September 2026. For publication on the gender pay gap service by 4 April 2027.
This is a worked example. Ashcombe Fabrication Group is a fictional organisation and every figure on this page was generated to show the format.
1. Statement of intent
Ashcombe Fabrication Group employs people at every stage of working life, including the menopause transition. Menopause symptoms affect how people work, and we would rather know that than assume it. In September 2026 we asked our whole workforce, anonymously and through an independent third party, what is affecting their work and what would help. Nobody was asked about their health or asked to identify themselves, and no answer was reported for any group smaller than ten people. What we found is set out in section 3. We commit to the five actions set out in this plan, to naming an owner and a date for each, and to asking the same questions again so we can publish what changed rather than what we intended.
Group Operations Director
Responsible person, confirming the information in this plan is accurate.
2. Scope
This plan covers everyone employed by Ashcombe Fabrication Group across our three sites, in every work area from manufacturing and assembly to head office and support.
3. What we found
In September 2026, an independent third party ran an anonymous pulse across Ashcombe Fabrication Group. 1195 people were invited and 502 responded, a rate of 42%. Around 54% said sleep and fatigue was affecting their work. The most requested change was flexible start or finish times, asked for by 168 people, followed by temperature or ventilation control, asked for by 125. Of the 272 who had not requested an adjustment, 33% said they were worried about how it would be seen. Around 21% had used the menopause policy and guidance. Around 19% did not know what support was available.
What changed. Between round 1 and round 2, the supported-at-work score rose from 2.6 to 3.4 of 5. The most requested change is now flexible start or finish times, with 168 asks against 182 in round 1. Around 19% did not know what support was available, from around 38% in round 1.
Earlier round for reference: In September 2025, an independent third party ran an anonymous pulse across Ashcombe Fabrication Group. 1180 people were invited and 437 responded, a rate of 37%. Around 56% said sleep and fatigue was affecting their work. The most requested change was flexible start or finish times, asked for by 182 people, followed by temperature or ventilation control, asked for by 158. Of the 298 who had not requested an adjustment, 39% said they were worried about how it would be seen. Around 14% had used the menopause policy and guidance. Around 38% did not know what support was available.
Evidence collected by Summ Base, an independent third party taking no commission from any provider measured or signposted. Groups smaller than 10 people are never reported, and health-related counts are rounded to the nearest 5.
4. Risk assessment summary
A menopause risk assessment has been completed for 3 work areas (Manufacturing and assembly, Field operations, Quality and laboratory), identifying issues in Manufacturing and assembly, Field operations, Quality and laboratory, with 6 findings carried into action. The full assessment accompanies this plan.
5. Actions
| Action | Addresses | Status | Owner | Due | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offer workplace adjustments for employees experiencing menopause | Menopause | New or in progress | Head of Health and Safety | December 2026 | Low cost |
| Train managers to support employees experiencing menopause | Menopause | New or in progress | Head of Learning and Development | January 2027 | Medium cost |
| Conduct a menopause risk assessment for your workplace | Menopause | New or in progress | Head of Health and Safety | November 2026 | No direct cost |
| Enhance and promote flexible working and leave policies | Gender pay gap | New or in progress | Director of People | February 2027 | Low cost |
| Increase transparency for pay, promotion and rewards | Gender pay gap | Embedded | Reward Manager | March 2027 | No direct cost |
Offer workplace adjustments for employees experiencing menopause
Why we chose this. Our latest anonymous survey recorded 582 requests across temperature, uniform, facilities, private space, hours and workload changes combined, more than any other group of asks. We chose this action because it responds directly to what our people told us they need, rather than to an assumption about what would help.
How we will track it. We will repeat the same seven questions every round so the figures are directly comparable. Our baseline is a supported at work score of 2.6 out of 5 across 437 responses in round one. We will watch how many people still ask for each change and how many wanted a change but never asked, reviewing alongside our gender pay gap figures each year.
Train managers to support employees experiencing menopause
Why we chose this. In our most recent survey, 90 people who had not asked for a change said they worried about how it would be seen, and 70 said they did not want to explain why. Training gives managers the confidence and the words to respond well, so fewer people stay silent about something that affects their work.
How we will track it. We will count managers trained against the total who line manage staff, and repeat our anonymous survey to see whether fewer people cite feeling worried or reluctant to explain as reasons they never asked. We will also watch our supported at work score and review progress annually alongside our gender pay gap figures.
Conduct a menopause risk assessment for your workplace
Why we chose this. We have already assessed three of our six work areas and found issues with heat, uniform or facilities in more than one. Extending the assessment across every remaining area lets us fix the same practical problems everywhere our people work, not only where we happened to look first.
How we will track it. We will track the number of work areas with a completed assessment out of the total, aiming to cover every area by the review date. Findings are carried into named actions with an owner, a date and an estimated cost, and we will report annually on how many have been completed.
Enhance and promote flexible working and leave policies
Why we chose this. Our anonymous survey recorded 263 requests for flexible start or finish times and for changes to workload timing or shift patterns combined, the largest group of asks outside adjustments for menopause specifically. Making our flexible working and leave policies clearer and easier to use responds to that evidence directly.
How we will track it. We will monitor how many flexible working requests are made and agreed each year, and repeat our anonymous survey to see whether fewer people ask for hours or workload changes that policy could already resolve. We will report this alongside our gender pay gap figures at each annual review.
Increase transparency for pay, promotion and rewards
How this became established. Pay ranges and the criteria for progression have been published internally for the last two years, alongside a yearly pay review whose outcome every manager and employee can see. It became standard practice after our first gender pay gap report showed unclear criteria were part of the problem.
What the results have been. Since publishing our pay ranges, internal moves between pay bands have become more evenly spread between men and women, and fewer people raise pay fairness as a concern when asked. We continue to review the ranges every year and report the outcome alongside our gender pay gap figures.
Action titles follow the GOV.UK list of recommended actions for gender pay gap and menopause action plans, checked 20 August 2026.
6. Actions considered and not taken
- Set up menopause support groups and networks. Our survey shows the barrier most people cite is not knowing who to ask, which occupational health advice and manager training address more directly for now. We will look at a network once training is embedded.
7. How we will measure whether it worked
We will repeat the same anonymous survey, with identical wording, so the two rounds are directly comparable. Our baseline is a supported at work score of 2.6 out of 5 across 437 responses in round one, which rose to 3.4 out of 5 across 502 responses in round two. Before these actions started we also recorded, from our own records, a sickness absence rate for women aged 40 to 60 of 4.1% in September 2025, a retention rate for that group of 86% still in post after 12 months, and 0 of 96 line managers trained. We will measure each the same way at every review. We will judge these actions on three things: movement in the supported at work score, a fall in the number of people who wanted a change but never asked for one, and whether the support we already fund is reaching more people than it does today.
| Measure | Source | Baseline | Latest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proportion using adjustments or flexible working, by age and sex | From your HR system | 5% of women aged 40 to 60 (September 2025) | 12% of women aged 40 to 60 (September 2026) |
| Sickness absence rate, women aged 40 to 60 | From your HR system | 4.1% of working time (September 2025) | 3.6% of working time (September 2026) |
| Retention rate, women aged 40 to 60 | From your HR system | 86% still in post after 12 months (September 2025) | 89% still in post after 12 months (September 2026) |
| Whether adjustments asked for actually happened | Measured by your pulse | 89 of 139 who asked for an adjustment said it happened (September 2025, round 1) | 172 of 230 who asked for an adjustment said it happened (September 2026, round 2) |
| Why people who wanted a change never asked | Measured by your pulse | 39% of those who never asked said: worried how it would be seen (September 2025, round 1) | 33% of those who never asked said: worried how it would be seen (September 2026, round 2) |
| Managers who have completed menopause training | From your training records | 0 of 96 line managers (October 2025) | 74 of 98 line managers (September 2026) |
| How supported people feel at work, anonymous survey, 1 to 5 | Measured by your pulse | 2.6 of 5 supported at work (September 2025, round 1) | 3.4 of 5 supported at work (September 2026, round 2) |
| Work areas with a completed menopause risk assessment | Counted by your portal | 3 of 6 work areas assessed | 3 of 6 work areas assessed (September 2026, round 2) |
Measures follow the tracking guidance on each GOV.UK menopause action page, 4 March 2026, which asks employers to gather data before an action starts and to monitor changes for the target group, such as women aged 40 to 60. Aggregate figures only; nothing here is about an individual.
8. Governance and review
The Group Operations Director owns this plan. The owners named for each action report on their own progress at each review. Progress is reviewed every quarter. The plan is reviewed in full once a year, before the publication date for this reporting year, and republished with what changed. If an action turns out not to work, we will say so in the next version rather than quietly drop it.
9. How employees can raise something
Anyone can raise something about menopause and work with their line manager, or with our people team if they would rather not go to their manager. Our employee assistance programme, occupational health referral and menopause policy and guidance are available to everyone, and can be used without telling a manager. Nobody has to share a diagnosis, name a symptom, or explain anything medical to ask for a change to how they work. A request is a normal workplace conversation about doing the job well, and it will be treated as one.