‘Missed opportunity’: Ministers reject proposal to introduce ‘menopause leave’ 

Last July, the cross-party women and equalities committee published a report focusing on menopause and the workplace, which included a recommendation to make it a “protected characteristic” under the Equality Act.

On Tuesday, the government dismissed the recommendation but insisted it had an “ambitious plan” to improve help for women experiencing menopause.

The government’s response to the report rejected the proposal, because of “unintended consequences which may inadvertently create new forms of discrimination, such as discrimination risks towards men suffering from long-term medical conditions”.

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It rejected outright five of the committee’s proposals, including a recommendation for the government to work with a large public sector employer to "develop and pilot a specific menopause leave policy".

In the report, MPs warned that a lack of support for women going through menopause in the workplace was driving women out of their jobs by “insensitive and rigid sickness policies" and prompting the UK economy to “haemorrhage talent”.

The decision has been labelled a “missed opportunity” and a “huge failure in supporting women midlife”.

The Conservative chair of the committee Caroline Nokes said: "The evidence to our inquiry was crystal clear that urgent action was needed across healthcare and work settings to properly address women’s needs, yet government progress has been glacial and its response complacent."

She condemned the government’s findings as "a missed opportunity to protect vast numbers of talented and experienced women from leaving the workforce".

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A government spokesperson argued it had "put women’s health at the top of the agenda as part of the first-ever women’s health strategy for England".

Emma Clark, employment partner at Keystone Law said: "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. Statistics continue to show that 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.

Clark has urged employers to introduce their own menopause policies and adjustments to their workplace to minimise their legal and reputational risk.

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“This includes incorporating the menopause into their existing policies, educating their staff as part of their training programmes and ensuring that sickness absence tracking systems records absence for menopause-related symptoms separately."

“Policies such as these provide employees with additional protection and helps employers comply with the Equality Act – for example their 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, by having legislation in place, this would ensure menopausal people in all sectors are protected and supported."

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However, Kathy Abernethy, Chief Nursing Officer and Director of Menopause Services at digital health app Peppy says that while the report draws attention to the issue of menopause in the workplace, it would be better to have more support, such as advice and treatment, in workplaces.

She said: "While we welcome this focus on menopause as a workplace issue: approval of sick leave just isn’t the answer here. While it’s true many individuals do take time off work due to menopausal symptoms, what colleagues really need is easy access to information and appropriate treatment to effectively manage those symptoms. 

“Many workplaces can and do offer great support, which is very important, but access to treatment - whether that is HRT, lifestyle changes, nutritional support or therapy approaches (or often all of these) - is essential, and workplaces who support their people to make informed decisions around treatment choices, may find that absence is far less common."

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A government spokesperson said: “We are implementing an ambitious programme of work with the NHS to improve menopause care so all women can access the support they need.

“We encourage employers to be compassionate and flexible to the needs of their employees, and are committed to supporting more flexible working patterns – having consulted on making flexible working the default unless employers have good reasons not to.”