Menopause at Work: What Employers Actually Need to D

If your business does not have a clear approach, you are losing experienced people and leaving yourself open to discrimination claims with uncapped awards.

Menopause related tribunal claims have more than tripled in recent years, from 64 in 2022 to over 200 in 2024. The Equality and Human Rights Commission published specific guidance for employers in 2024, and tribunals are paying close attention to how businesses respond.

With World Menopause Day on 18 October, now is a good time to check where you stand.

The legal position

Menopause does not have its own protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010. But where symptoms are substantial and long term, they can meet the legal definition of disability. That triggers a duty to make reasonable adjustments.

If you do not make them, you are exposed to disability discrimination claims. Employees can also bring claims for sex discrimination or age discrimination, since menopause is connected to both.

And if someone feels forced out because their symptoms were not accommodated, that is a potential constructive dismissal claim.

Discrimination awards are uncapped.

In Lynskey v Direct Line in 2023, a tribunal awarded over £64,000 after the employer failed to adjust performance targets for an employee whose work was affected by severe menopause symptoms. The tribunal criticised the company for a lack of compassion. That was a single case, and the trend is accelerating.

What reasonable adjustments look like

The adjustments that prevent claims are usually straightforward. What matters is that you actually respond when an employee tells you they are struggling.

Common examples include:

• Flexible start and finish times to manage fatigue or sleep disruption
• Access to a fan or a cooler workspace for hot flushes
• More frequent or more flexible breaks
• Temporary adjustments to workload or targets during severe symptom periods

None of this requires a big budget. It requires managers who know how to handle the conversation when it comes up.

Where employers get caught out

The issue we see most often is absence management.

If your sickness absence policy triggers warnings after a set number of days, and menopause related absence is counted in exactly the same way as general sickness, that is potentially discriminatory. You need to consider whether those absences should be recorded separately and whether your trigger points need adjusting.

The other common problem is managers who do not know how to respond.

An employee raises the subject, the manager feels awkward and the conversation stalls. The employee feels unsupported, performance drops and eventually they leave or raise a grievance. That pattern shows up repeatedly in tribunal decisions.

Why it matters commercially

Women aged 45 to 55 are the fastest growing demographic in the UK workforce. Many are in experienced or senior roles.

Replacing an experienced employee can cost two to three times their salary once you factor in recruitment and lost knowledge. Supporting someone through menopause properly costs almost nothing by comparison.

How we can help

We can help you develop a menopause policy and train your managers to handle requests sensitively and legally. We will also review your absence triggers to make sure they are not inadvertently discriminatory.

If you are not sure what your obligations are, get in touch for a practical conversation.



Get in touch for a confidential chat today.

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