The menopause at work: a guide for employers

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Menopause. How often are you talking to your employees about it? If the answer is ‘never’ then you’re probably not alone. However, actively supporting any employees going through the menopause is becoming increasingly important for employers to consider. A recent Government Report on Menopause found that menopausal women are the fastest growing workplace demographic.

A report in August 2021 in The Guardian found that cases involving the menopause could be at the centre of the increasing number of employment tribunals in the UK.
Recent data reported that five employment tribunals referenced a claimant’s menopause in 2016. Compare that with 16 in 2020 and 10 in the first six months of 2021, it’s clear that those going through the menopause are increasingly challenging their employer’s understanding of its impact. But what can employers do to support their employers, and also protect their business from potential claims?

What is the menopause?

The menopause is a natural stage in life when a person’s periods permanently stop. The typical age range for the menopause is usually between 40 and 60. The average age at which a person reaches menopause is 51. On average, symptoms last for four years, but can continue for up to 12 years. Some people might experience menopause earlier or go through surgical menopause.
According to Acas, it’s important for employers to be aware of the fact that menopause and its symptoms can affect any of their employees.

This extends to:

those personally going through the menopause
relatives, colleagues and carers of those going through the menopause
trans people
intersex people

What are the most common symptoms of the menopause?

Menopause affects every individual differently. Some may have no symptoms at all, or they might be brief and short lived. For others, they can be severe and distressing. Examples of the symptoms that may affect employees at work include:

Hot flushes and night sweats
Feeling the heart racing and palpitations
Difficulty sleeping
Changes in mood, such as feeling tired, irritable, depressed or anxious
Difficulty concentrating
Poor memory
Urinary problems, such as recurrent UTI’s and loss of bladder control

Such wide-ranging symptoms can in turn have a knock-on effect on an employee’s confidence in their skills, abilities and their belief in their ability to do their job. Sometimes these symptoms can leave people feeling like they need to take more time off work or even leave their job.

Why is it important for employers to understand the menopause?

With menopause age employees becoming the fastest-growing workplace demographic and economically active group in the UK, amounting to millions of people, it’s important to retain these employees, their knowledge and skills in your teams. And it’s not just in employment tribunals that the issue of better understanding and support of the effects of menopause has arisen; it’s also being pushed to the forefront of people’s mind in the media – through documentaries and dedicated awareness days – as well as in legislation reviews.
The Women and Equalities Committee are looking at how well current legislation protects women from discrimination in the workplace associated with the menopause.

What can employers do to support employees impacted by menopausal symptoms?

It’s important to have a strategy in place that can provide support to menopausal employees at every stage of the menopause. Here are a few essential questions to ask yourself to help get you started:

Have you considered developing and implementing a menopause policy?

This can help everyone understand:

how menopause affects people
what support is available to staff
what your business’ stance is on issues such as taking time off because of menopause symptoms
flexible working arrangements available to menopausal employees

What changes can you make in the workplace to support menopausal individuals?

Things to consider include office temperatures, supplying desk fans, access to quiet breakout areas.

Is flexible working – either on a temporary or permanent basis – something you can support in your workplace?

If someone experiencing menopausal symptoms can change their working pattern to suit when they’re at their best, this will not only help them, but enable your business to retain their skills and input into the business.

Have you carried out important Health & Safety checks for menopausal employees?

This includes:

assessing whether any symptoms are made worse by the workplace or work practices
what changes you can make to help people manage their symptoms
including these findings in a risk assessment

Have you trained your managers in supporting menopausal team members?

Managers need to be aware of what the signs and symptoms of the menopause are. Plus, it can add an extra level of comfort for staff knowing that their mangers are trained to listen and point them in the direction of more support.

Appoint a workplace menopause champion

Having a single point of contact if someone needs advice, further support, or just a friendly ear to listen sensitively is a great way to proactively open up the conversation
around menopause in the workplace. Workplace champions could be responsible for:

Running awareness-raising workshops
Providing vital information, support and further resources
Checking the appropriate Health & Safety risk assessments have been carried out and recorded

What are the risks of not having policies, procedures and support in place for menopausal employees?

With an increase in menopause-relate employment tribunal cases, it’s essential for employers to understand what kind of risks they open themselves up to by not addressing this topic
directly in the workplace.

Disability under the Equality Act 2010

While the menopause is not a specifically protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010, it’s still the case that if an employee is put at a disadvantage because of their menopause
symptoms, there could be a risk of discrimination related to a protected characteristic.

Age discrimination
Sex discrimination
Gender reassignment discrimination
Disability discrimination

Harassment and victimisation

What seem like harmless jokes or workplace ‘banter’ about topics such as hot flushes, could be construed as victimisation or bullying on the basis of age, sex or disability.

Unfair dismissal

If you’ve not properly investigated the circumstances of a menopausal employee’s dismissal, or you’ve of followed a fair process, there’s a risk to your business of unfair dismissal claims.