Reasonable Adjustments for Menopause Symptoms

You have a duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled employees. If you fail to do so, an employee may make a claim in the Employment Tribunal. Menopause may be considered a disability under the Equality Act 2010 if it has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person's ability to do normal day-to-day activities.

An example of one such case, is Lynskey v Direct Line Insurance Services Ltd. In this case, Lynskey was suffering from various symptoms of menopause whilst at work. These symptoms included low mood, anxiety, mood swings, memory loss and poor concentration.

Due to these symptoms she transferred to another position with less targets. However, this change meant that she was disadvantaged financially. Once she was in this role, her manager criticised her performance, threatened disciplinary action and refused to provide the refresher training that was recommended by occupational health services. Due to this treatment, Lynskey felt that she had no other option but to resign.

Lynskey was successful at the Employment Tribunal. The Employment Tribunal found that there were eight adjustments in total that had been suggested and subsequently ignored by Direct Line Ltd. This led to the claimant being awarded £64,645.07.

This proves that you have to take a proactive approach and implement reasonable adjustments for your disabled employees. Ignoring the issue, or criticising the employee for not meeting targets without examining why, could land your business in a lot of trouble.