In September 2021, the ELA L&P Committee responded to the government call for evidence on Menopause and the Workplace. As a result of our excellent 34 page submission, Marian Bloodworth, ELA Chair was asked to give direct evidence to the Women and Equalities Committee within the House of Commons in January 2022. The Women and Equalities Committee have now published their First Report of session 22-23, Menopause and the workplace, HC 91, together with the accompanying press notice which you can access below.

The report recommends both that Section 14 of the Equality Act 2010 be enacted immediately, and that the menopause should be designated as a protected characteristic (subject to further consultation). To date the Government has indicated that it does not intend to take either of these steps and it remains to be seen whether these recommendations will be adopted.

Within the report you will find extensive references to the ELA submission and the evidence given by Marian. This is a fantastic outcome from the hard work put in by the Menopause working party led by Louise Skinner and Eleanor Mannion.

We hope this will lead to more high-level discussion around this issue in the future.