The government has confirmed it is not currently planning to introduce menopause as a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010, or to implement dual discrimination, such as age/sex.

Chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, Caroline Noakes, sent a letter last month regarding a menopause enquiry, and was told in response that the government will instead consult the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), as well as the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, to assess whether improvements can be made to increase understanding of the law in this area.

Baroness Stedman-Scott’s letter states:

“Our key objective is to ensure that women going through the menopause are treated fairly at work by ensuring that employers are fully aware of the challenges faced by these women and their current legal obligations, including under the act. Introducing menopause as a new protected characteristic in the act would require primary legislation and we have no current plans to revise the Equality Act 2010. The ‘fit’ of menopause as a characteristic into the Act would require careful consideration. Wherever possible the act is intended to create protection across all the relevant areas, and menopause does not seem to align with this, being only relevant to Part 5 of the Act (Employment).”

Noakes’ letter also enquired as to the government’s plans regarding allowing a claim of combined discrimination to be brought. Its response reads:

“We have no plans to implement the dual discrimination provision in the 2010 Act. We believe that protection under the existing protected characteristics is adequate and that enactment would introduce unwelcome regulatory complexity and place new costly burdens on business and the public sector. Commencement of this provision cannot be done on a “cherry-picking” basis and would therefore introduce a further 20 combined protected characteristics along with “age/sex”, creating an unhelpful distraction for employers from what they should be doing – complying with the current law with its existing protected characteristics and being aware of the guidance. An employee or service user may currently bring a discrimination claim on two or more grounds, which the courts can consider within a single claim.”

A 2019 survey conducted by BUPA and the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD) found that three in five menopausal women – usually aged between 45 and 55 – were negatively affected at work and that almost 900,000 women in the UK left their jobs over an undefined period of time because of menopausal symptoms. This could mean that women are leaving businesses at the peak of their experience. Women in this age group are likely to be eligible for senior management roles, and so their exit can lessen diversity at executive levels. It can also contribute to the gender pay-gap and feed into a disparity in pensions.

Under the Equality Act 2010, menopause discrimination is largely covered under three protected characteristics – age, sex and disability discrimination.