Support from an HR consultant in Ipswich to help you manage menopause in the workplace, protect your team and reduce your legal risk.
In my work with SMEs, I’m seeing menopause come up more and more as a topic that catches business owners off guard.
It’s rarely because they don’t care. It’s because they didn’t realise there were legal obligations attached to it.
Tribunal claims linked to menopause have jumped from 64 in 2022 to over 200 in 2024. The Equality and Human Rights Commission issued specific employer guidance last year, and tribunals are using it as a benchmark.
With World Menopause Day falling on 18 October, it’s worth checking where your business stands. Let me walk you through what you need to know.
Why menopause is a legal issue for employers
You might assume menopause sits outside employment law because it isn’t listed as a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010. That’s technically correct. But it doesn’t mean you’re off the hook.
When menopause symptoms are substantial and long-lasting, they can meet the legal definition of disability. Once that threshold is crossed, you have a duty to make reasonable adjustments. Failing to do so opens the door to a disability discrimination claim.
On top of that, menopause is directly connected to both sex and age. So claims can also be brought on those grounds.
There’s another angle too. If an employee feels she had no choice but to resign because her symptoms weren’t properly accommodated, that could amount to constructive dismissal.
Discrimination awards have no cap. In the 2023 case of Lynskey v Direct Line, a tribunal awarded more than £64,000 after the employer didn’t adjust performance targets for someone struggling with severe symptoms. The tribunal specifically criticised the business for showing a lack of compassion.
One case, one employee. And the number of claims is growing fast.
The absence management trap
Of all the areas where businesses slip up, absence management is the one I come across most often.
Many sickness absence policies use fixed trigger points. After a certain number of days off, a warning is issued automatically. If menopause-related absence gets lumped in with general sickness, that process can become discriminatory.
You need to think about whether those absences should be recorded separately. You also need to review whether your trigger points are appropriate when a long-term health condition is involved.
It’s a small change to how you track absence, but it makes a real difference to your legal position.
Managers who freeze when the conversation comes up
The second most common problem is managers who simply don’t know what to say.
An employee mentions she’s struggling with menopause symptoms. The manager feels uncomfortable and doesn’t follow up. The employee takes that as a signal she won’t be supported. Her performance dips. Eventually she either raises a grievance or walks out.
That sequence appears again and again in tribunal decisions. It’s not that managers are being deliberately unhelpful. They just haven’t been given the tools or the confidence to respond properly.
A short conversation at the right time can prevent months of difficulty. But only if your managers know how to have it.
Adjustments that actually work
The good news is that supporting someone through menopause rarely costs much at all. The adjustments that make the biggest difference tend to be practical and low-cost.
Here are some examples:
- Allowing flexible start and finish times so someone dealing with fatigue or disrupted sleep can work when they’re at their best
- Providing a fan or moving someone to a cooler part of the workspace
- Offering more frequent breaks during the day
- Temporarily reducing workload or adjusting targets during periods of severe symptoms
What matters most isn’t the specific adjustment. It’s the fact that you responded when someone told you they were struggling.
The commercial case for getting this right
Women between 45 and 55 are the fastest-growing group in the UK workforce. Many of them hold experienced or senior positions. One in ten women have left a job because of menopause symptoms.
Losing someone with years of knowledge and client relationships is expensive. Recruitment alone can cost two to three times that person’s salary once you factor in hiring, onboarding and the knowledge that walks out the door with them.
Compare that to the cost of a fan, a flexible schedule or an honest conversation with a manager. The maths is clear.
Retaining your experienced people isn’t just the right thing to do. It’s the financially sensible thing to do.
Questions worth asking yourself
Take a moment to consider where your business sits on this:
- Does your sickness absence policy treat menopause-related absence differently from general illness?
- Have your managers received any guidance on how to respond if someone raises menopause as an issue?
- Do you have a written menopause policy, or any documented approach at all?
- Would your team know who to speak to if they needed support?
If you’re unsure about any of those, it’s a sign that some work is needed.
How we can help
As part of our HR consultancy services in Ipswich, we work with businesses to put a clear menopause policy in place. We also provide practical training for managers so they feel confident handling sensitive conversations. And we’ll review your absence triggers to make sure they’re not unintentionally putting you at risk of a claim.
You don’t need to overhaul everything overnight. Sometimes it starts with a simple conversation about where the gaps are.
As an outsourced HR consultant in Ipswich, I’m here to help you work through this in a way that suits your business. If you’d like to have a chat about your current set-up, get in touch.
Call us on 01473 653000 or email hello@pshumanresources.co.uk to book a free consultation.
