Menopause affects 51% of the population and women of menopausal age are the fastest growing group in the workforce. The UK government’s legislative approach to supporting women in the workplace going through menopause, however, remains in flux. What is clear is that menopause is staying on the agenda as a hot topic issue for employers, and we’ve written previously about why savvy employers should prioritise discussions on the menopause, in order to retain talent and improve employee wellbeing and productivity.

The political landscape in this area has been changing in recent months, the backdrop to this being the publication of the following:

1. An independent report – this report was commissioned by the previous Minister for Employment and published in November 2021. The report recognised that, among other issues, menopause is a key recruitment and retention issue and that there is a real lack of awareness around menopause in the workplace. The report made ten recommendations for change in this area. We refer to this report as the “Independent Report” in this article.
2. The government’s policy paper – the UK government published its policy paper ‘Response to Menopause and the workplace: how to enable fulfilling working lives’ in July 2022, in response to the Independent Report. Interestingly and disappointingly for some, the government’s response confirmed it has no plans at present to change the Equality Act 2010 (the “EqA”) so that the menopause itself would become a...

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