Menopause

Menopause symptoms can have a significant impact on women at work.

Research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found that two thirds of working women between the ages of 40 and 60 with experience of menopausal symptoms said they have had a mostly negative impact on them at work. Of those who were negatively affected at work:

• 79% said they were less able to concentrate.
• 68% said they experienced more stress.
• nearly half (49%) said they felt less patient with clients and colleagues, and
• 46% felt less physically able to carry out work tasks.

Baroness Kishwer Falkner, chair of the EHRC, said: “As Britain’s equality watchdog, we are concerned both by how many women report being forced out of a role due to their menopause-related symptoms and how many don’t feel safe enough to request the workplace adjustments."

Discrimination

There are nine protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. Menopause isn’t one of them. However, age, disability and sex are all characteristics which provide protection against unfair treatment of employees going through the menopause.

Employees and workers are protected from being put at a disadvantage or treated less favourably because of their age. This could include less favourable treatment because they're going through the menopause, because it is usually related to the age of the person.

The equality watchdog’s Menopause in the workplace: guidance for employers states that menopause symptoms can be considered a disability if they have a long-term and substantial impact on a woman’s ability to carry out normal daily activities.

Employers should also be aware that unwanted behaviour about someone's menopause symptoms could count as harassment or sexual harassment depending on the nature of the behaviour.

Reasonable Adjustments

New menopause guidance for employers from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has emphasised the need for reasonable adjustments where a worker’s symptoms amount to a disability. 

Employers have a legal obligation to make reasonable adjustments in the case of disability, and they must ensure they do not directly or indirectly discriminate against a woman – or any employee – because of a disability. Direct Line has been ordered to pay a former employee almost £65,000 after it failed to make reasonable adjustments when her role was affected by menopause symptoms. The EHRC also recommends that:

• flexibility around start and end times should be considered to support women, particularly if their sleep has been disrupted
• working from home should be allowed where possible
• Disciplinary action resulting from menopause-related absence could be considered unlawful.
• workplace environment, such as room temperature and ventilation, should be considered
• rest areas or temperature-controlled areas should be introduced where possible, and uniform requirements should be relaxed to avoid any disadvantaging menopausal women.

Health & Safety

Under health and safety legislation, employers have a legal obligation to conduct an assessment of workplace risks, which should take into account the risks to menopausal women and enable to determine what reasonable adjustments should be made.

A report from the Fawcett Society claims that Workplaces are failing menopausal women and that a change is urgently needed. It reports that 1/10 women who worked during the menopause have left a job due to their symptoms and 8/10 women say their employer hasn’t shared information, trained staff, or put in place a menopause absence policy.

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