On 23 February 2022 the Women and Equalities Committee published it’s Menopause and the workplace survey results. Alarmingly, the survey found that nearly a third of respondents took time off work due to symptoms associated with menopause. The day before, it was reported that an Essex based woman was awarded £20,000 after she was dismissed as a sales assistant. The employment tribunal found that the employee was harassed due to her age and sex and was victimised. Part of the complaint related to derogatory comments made by a male employer which included “she must be on her menopause”.
All women will experience menopause at some point during their life. Menopause can also impact trans and non-binary people who may not identify as female. Let’s further examine some of the issues arising in the workplace associated with menopause and some of the steps employers can take to help educate and protect their staff.
The Equality Act 2010 sets out a number of workplace protections which aim to prevent unlawful treatment based on 7 protected characteristics including age, disability and sex. There is a growing body of employment related case law with reference to examples of unlawful treatment associated with menopause. In Donnachie v Telent Technology Services Ltd the claimant suffered with symptoms associated with menopause which had a detrimental effect on her day-to-day activities. The tribunal had little hesitation in concluding that the statutory test for disability was met, based on the facts of the case.
In A v Bonmarche Ltd (In Administration) the tribunal found that the claimant had been subject to sex and age discrimination when her manager made comments to the claimant about her “being menopausal” and “a dinosaur”. There are growing calls for more employers to introduce a Menopause Policy to help educate their staff and to reduce unlawful treatment associated with menopause. A robust policy will include information about the issue and make clear the steps the employer is willing to take to support staff affected by menopause.
Menopause will affect a great number of people in the workplace. An employer is susceptible to claims brought by staff where they have been subject to unlawful treatment which could relate to menopause. Its therefore important for an employer to take some simple and practical steps to help prevent unlawful treatment in workplace and improve the lives of their staff affected by menopause.