Employers could be sued for disability discrimination if thy fail to make reasonable adjustments for women going through the menopause.
New guidance has been issued by the Equality and Humans Rights Commission about the menopause in the workplace, which says if symptoms have a long term and substantial impact on a woman’s ability to carry out day-to-day activities, it may be considered a disability.
Business Crack asked menopause expert Freddy Carrick, who runs community interest company Menopause Unzipped, for her thoughts on the commission’s guidance. Here’s what she said:
“Feeling well and confident has a huge impact on how your employees engage with the workplace, especially if they are experiencing a challenging time such as menopause.
“As of April 2023 in the UK, 700,000 women age 50-plus are on long term sick leave from work, many of them being medicated with anti-depressants for symptoms of anxiety and/or constant low mood.
“In 2019, BUPA found that almost 900,000 women in the UK had left their jobs because of menopausal symptoms. This is not acceptable.
“The loss of a senior employee is not only the loss of their knowledge and experience of your business, you will lose the continuity of care of your clients and the expertise of that employee which is not quantifiable.
“All employees, which includes sub-contractors, are protected under specific characteristics.
“Under the Equality Act 2010, if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities, it is classed as a disability.
“Menopause is just that, issues that are more than minor or trivial, eg it takes much longer than it usually would to complete a daily task, such as dealing with enquiries or routine office tasks, long-term’ means 12 months or more, eg daily hot flushes, anxiety, loss of focus and concentration.
“Women are being habitually failed in the workplace through ignorance of this inevitable life experience.
“We can do better, and this is a first step to doing that. I would encourage all businesses to create a menopause policy.”
