Government’s response to menopause in the workplace

The Government has recently responded to the recommendations made in the Menopause and the Workplace report, published by The Women and Equalities Committee on 28th July 2022.

The Government’s response to the report includes mixed feedback on some of the recommendations.

One of the main suggestions within the report was to elect a Menopause Ambassador who would work alongside businesses, unions, advisory groups, and the Government.

In the Government’s response, they confirmed that they would appoint a Menopause Employment Champion to work with employers and produce progress reports (exact timings to be determined), alongside a public health campaign and teaching opportunities.

However, the Government did not agree that there was a need for model menopause policies to be published.

They argue that there are already sufficient steps being taken by both employers and other organisations, such as ACAS, in producing policies, guidance, and support.

The report suggested working with a large, well-established public sector employer and conducting a pilot trial for a menopause leave policy.

However, the Government rejected the piloting of such a scheme, arguing that it would be counterproductive to their overall aim of supporting menopausal women to remain in the workplace.

Another suggestion was to have the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) publish more specific guidance around menopause in the workplace.

The Government agreed that further menopause guidance would be useful and produced and published by the HSE.

The report recommended the introduction of a dual protected characteristic, combining both age and sex, which would specifically relate to menopause.

However, this was rejected by the Government, believing that this could open the floodgates to the introduction of at least 20 other dual characteristics.

This would be an unnecessary burden on employers.

Alternatively, the report suggested introducing menopause as a separate protected characteristic to the list of protected characteristics recognised under the Equality Act (2010).

This would mean that menopausal employees would be entitled to reasonable adjustments.

However, the Government did not accept this recommendation, explaining that menopause is already covered under existing characteristics.

There have been mixed responses to the Government’s approach, and given the prevalence of this topic, we expect to see more details to come.