The government’s response to the Women and Equalities Committee’s menopause recommendations is not only greatly disappointing, but also a huge failure in supporting women in mid-life. Women and menopausal people do not feel supported in the workplace when going through this transition, therefore negatively impacting their work.
The lack of direct legislative protection is a key issue for menopausal people experiencing discrimination in the workplace. Claimants may not be aware that they can actually bring a claim, or are unclear on what grounds they could complain. As there is no specific protected characteristic for the menopause, like there is for maternity or pregnancy, claimants often need to rely on sex, age or disability discrimination grounds.
Claims referring to the menopause amount to a small percentage of the overall number of employment tribunals being heard. This may be because many claims are settled prior to being heard at tribunal, as claimants may lack confidence either because of the limited number of successful claims to date, or because they do not have the financial security to go through the process. Furthermore, we are seeing some employers being keen to settle as early as possible rather than defend what could be a high-profile claim.
The current trend is for many employers to introduce menopause policies and adjustments to their workplace. This includes incorporating the menopause into their existing policies, educating staff as part of their training programmes, and ensuring that sickness absence tracking systems record absence for menopause-related symptoms separately.
Policies such as these provide employees with additional protection and help employers comply with the Equality Act, as for example, an absence could be disability-related and therefore should not be allowed to impact on performance management processes, or form part of a selection for redundancy.
However, having legislation in place would ensure menopausal people in all sectors are protected and supported. By creating a better and more supportive work environment, employers will not only minimise their legal and reputational risk, but importantly, retain women in the workplace at a time when we need to close the gender pay gap.
Emma Clark is an employment partner at Keystone Law