Gender pay gap reporting deadlines: the 2026 employer calendar
Miss a gender pay gap reporting deadline and the consequences are not just a fine. A late or absent report sits publicly on the gov.uk service, visible to every candidate, journalist, and competitor who looks. For an employer trying to attract and keep women, that silence says as much as the numbers would have.
The rules themselves are stable, but the dates shift every year and the snapshot that anchors your report falls almost twelve months before the deadline. This is the 2026 employer calendar: the dates that matter, the figures you have to publish, and the small window of planning that separates a clean submission from a scramble in March.
Who has to report, and when the clock starts
Gender pay gap reporting is a legal duty for any UK employer with 250 or more employees on the snapshot date. It comes from the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017 for private and voluntary sector employers, and a parallel public sector duty introduced the same year. Below 250 staff, reporting is voluntary, though a growing number of smaller employers publish anyway to signal where they stand.
The clock starts on the snapshot date, not the day you file. Everything you report describes your workforce on that one day, using the pay period that contains it.
There are two snapshot dates, and which one applies depends on your sector:
- Public sector employers use a snapshot of 31 March.
- Private and voluntary sector employers use a snapshot of 5 April.
You then have exactly one year to publish. That gives public sector bodies a deadline of 30 March the following year, and private and voluntary employers a deadline of 4 April the following year.
The 2026 calendar at a glance
Here is where the twelve-month gap trips people up. The report an employer published in spring 2026 was built on the spring 2025 snapshot. The snapshot taken in spring 2026 will not be due until spring 2027. Both belong to your “2026” planning, which is exactly why the calendar is worth laying out.
For the reporting round already closed this year: public sector employers used a 31 March 2025 snapshot with a 30 March 2026 deadline, and private and voluntary employers used a 5 April 2025 snapshot with a 4 April 2026 deadline. If you filed on time, that round is done.
For the round now running: your 31 March 2026 snapshot (public sector) is due by 30 March 2027, and your 5 April 2026 snapshot (private and voluntary sector) is due by 4 April 2027. The data is already fixed, because the snapshot has passed. What remains is the analysis, the sign-off, and publication.
The practical read is simple. By late summer you should have your raw payroll data pulled for the spring 2026 snapshot, so that the calculation work happens in autumn rather than in a February panic.
The six figures you must publish
Reporting is not a single percentage. UK employers have to publish six specific measures, and each one tells a different part of the story:
- Mean gender pay gap in hourly pay.
- Median gender pay gap in hourly pay.
- Mean bonus gender pay gap.
- Median bonus gender pay gap.
- The proportion of men and women who received a bonus.
- The proportion of men and women in each of the four pay quartiles.
The median figure is usually the fairer headline, because a handful of very high earners can distort the mean. If you want a plain-English walk through what each number means and how to read them together, our guide on how to read a company’s gender pay gap figures breaks it down, and the complete UK guide to gender pay gap reporting covers the calculation rules in full.
Where to publish, and for how long
Two things have to happen by the deadline. You upload the figures to the government’s gender pay gap reporting service on gov.uk, and you publish the same figures in an accessible place on your own website. Private and voluntary sector reports also need a written statement confirming the figures are accurate, signed by a senior named person such as a director.
The report on your own site has to stay live for three years. That longevity is deliberate. It lets anyone track your trend, which is the number that actually reveals whether an employer is promoting women or simply hiring them into junior roles. A voluntary narrative explaining the gap and the actions you are taking is not required, but the best employers include one, because a bare figure with no context invites the worst interpretation.
What happens if you miss the deadline
The Equality and Human Rights Commission enforces the duty. In practice it starts with contact and a chance to comply, and can escalate to a formal investigation and an unlawful act notice. The heavier cost tends to be reputational: non-reporters are flagged on the public service, and campaigners and journalists routinely publish lists of employers that failed to file.
For any organisation competing for women, that visibility cuts both ways. A report filed on time, with a clear narrative and a trend moving in the right direction, is a recruitment asset. Pay transparency is only widening from here, as our explainer on what is changing with pay transparency in the UK sets out, so building a reliable reporting rhythm now is the cheaper path.
Frequently asked questions
What are the gender pay gap reporting deadlines for 2026?
For the round already filed, public sector reports based on the 31 March 2025 snapshot were due by 30 March 2026, and private and voluntary sector reports based on the 5 April 2025 snapshot were due by 4 April 2026. The next round uses spring 2026 snapshots and is due in spring 2027 (30 March 2027 for public sector, 4 April 2027 for private and voluntary sector).
Which employers have to report their gender pay gap?
Any UK employer with 250 or more employees on the snapshot date must report. Smaller employers can report voluntarily, and many now choose to.
What is the difference between the snapshot date and the deadline?
The snapshot date is the single day your figures describe: 31 March for public sector employers, 5 April for private and voluntary sector employers. The deadline is when you must publish, one year later. The gap gives you time to calculate and sign off the six required figures.
Do we have to publish anywhere other than gov.uk?
Yes. You upload to the government’s gender pay gap reporting service and publish the same figures on your own website, where they must remain accessible for three years.
Hiring women? Get RecruitHer early access, stronger signals, less inbox noise.
This is educational information, not legal advice. Reporting rules and deadlines can change and may depend on your organisation’s structure and sector. For guidance on your obligations, check the official rules at gov.uk or contact ACAS (free and impartial).
Last reviewed: July 2026