AI and the Gender Pay Gap: What Employers Need to Know

New rules are coming for larger employers on equality at work, and campaigners are worried that artificial intelligence could quietly undo the progress they are meant to deliver. Their message is clear: if employers do not consider AI when they plan for equality, the gender pay gap could grow rather than shrink.

Here is what is changing and why the warning matters.

What the new rules say about the gender pay gap

UK law already requires organisations with 250 or more employees to publish an annual gender pay gap report. From 6 April 2026, those employers must also develop and publish equality action plans under the Employment Rights Act 2025. The plans are voluntary for the first year and become mandatory from April 2027.

To help, independent think-tank Global 50/50 has published a practical guide, How to close the gender pay gap. It sets out step-by-step actions for meeting the legal requirements and future-proofing equality strategies. It draws on the group’s Closing the Gap? report, which uses eight years of data from the Global Health 50/50 Gender and Health Index.

Where AI comes in

The concern is that AI is being used more and more in recruitment, everyday workplace processes and career development. If an employer does not think about how it could amplify gender bias, it could get in the way of efforts to remove pay disparities.

Penny East, chief executive of the Fawcett Society, noted that the legislation does not mention AI’s potential to widen the gap. As AI spreads through health and social care, admin and the public sector, she said, the government must make sure women are not left with a growing pay and pension gap. Fawcett’s research suggests AI tools without proper safeguards and testing can build in and entrench bias.

Global 50/50 adds that ignoring AI risks could expose organisations to legal, reputational and workforce problems, and could undermine women’s leadership.

For HR teams, the practical takeaway is to bring AI into the conversation from the start: ask how automated tools are used in recruitment and progression, and whether anyone is checking their results for bias.

Plans only work if they are measured

Dr Lynsey Robinson, health sector lead at Global 50/50, welcomes equality action plans as a step in the right direction. She cautions, however, that they will have limited impact unless they are properly measured, monitored, evaluated and enforced.

She also points to a link between leadership and pay. Over an eight-year period, organisations with women CEOs had smaller gender pay gaps on average than those led by men. In her words, the pay gap is more than a number. It reflects a life-long unequal distribution of opportunity, power and privilege.

What the guide offers employers

• Practical tips on what to include in an equality action plan.
• Advice for each stage of the employee journey, from recruitment to retention and progression.
• Case studies of organisations around the world already using action plans to close the gap and promote women’s leadership.
• Steps employers can take now to develop or update their plans.

You can read the full report on the Global 50/50 website.

The authors hope employers in the UK and abroad will learn from the women leaders and feminist leadership principles in the guide. As Dr Robinson puts it, closing the gap benefits people of all genders by correcting historic imbalances and challenging old stereotypes about what work is worth.