Changing equality legislation in the UK to protect women going through the menopause should “not be ruled” out, according to the chair of a group of MPs leading an inquiry into discrimination on the issue.
A report in The Guardian notes that Caroline Nokes, chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, said the inquiry had heard from women who have suffered discrimination in the workplace and been forced to use disability legislation to seek redress in the courts. The inquiry will look at whether equality law needs to be strengthened and if the menopause should be a protected characteristic under the Equality Act, which states that it is against the law to discriminate against someone because of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.
“We are hearing too many stories of people finding the most convenient mechanism to bring a claim for disability discrimination – the menopause isn’t a disability,” said Nokes. “If the current legislation is working then great, but if it’s not working, and we’ve made maternity a protected characteristic, then do we need to look at making the menopause a protected characteristic?” she asked.
Nokes warned businesses that if they did not take action to help menopausal workers, they risked losing talent and productivity.
Women – and male allies – were coming together across the political divide, said Carolyn Harris, MP for Swansea East, who has launched a private member’s Bill which, if successful, would exempt hormone replacement therapy from NHS prescription charges in England, as is the case in Wales and Scotland, where all prescriptions are free.
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