British Ministers have rejected a proposal from MPs to introduce “menopause leave” pilots in England, arguing it could be “counterproductive”, and simultaneously dismissed a recommendation to make menopause a protected characteristic under the Equality Act, reports the BBC.
The suggestions came from the Women and Equalities Committee, which accused Ministers of making “glacial progress” on menopause support.
In July 2022, the committee published a report warning that the impact of menopause was causing the UK economy to “haemorrhage talent”, and that a lack of support was pushing women out of work. It listed 12 recommendations aimed at giving working women more rights.
However, in its response to the report, the government 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”.
The MPs argued this could stop women being “forced out of work by insensitive and rigid sickness policies”.
The government added that it was focused on encouraging employers to implement workplace menopause policies, however, “we are concerned that specific menopause leave may be counterproductive to achieving this goal”.
It also refused to launch a consultation on amending the Equality Act to introduce a new protected characteristic of menopause “including a duty to provide reasonable adjustments for menopausal employees”, which could have “unintended consequences that may inadvertently create new forms of discrimination, for example, towards men suffering from from long term medical conditions or eroding existing protections.”.
According to a previous British Menopause Society survey, 45% of women indicated they felt their menopause symptoms had a negative impact on their work.
BBC article – ‘Menopause leave’ trial rejected by ministers (Open access)
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Lawmakers call for NHS to offer free menopause checks
UK equality laws could be changed to protect women in menopause
Rise in menopause cases before UK employment tribunals