Menopause action plans are voluntary from April 2026 and mandatory for employers with 250 or more employees, likely from spring 2027. The EHRC’s new guidance gives employers a legal frame for menopause and perimenopause, but the failures most women still meet are practical: symptoms treated as poor performance, managers left to improvise, and low-cost adjustments never written down. The question now is whether a workplace can respond before absence, conflict or a grievance starts.
What the EHRC has put on the table
The EHRC guidance gives employers a timetable that large organisations cannot ignore.
The guidance also points employers to the day-to-day issues that matter most at work. Those include reasonable adjustments, flexible working, temperature and uniform issues, access to toilets and rest areas, supportive absence management and manager training.
Where managers still get it wrong
Menopause and perimenopause symptoms do not follow a tidy pattern, which is why fixed assumptions cause problems. A woman may function well one week and struggle the next, and a manager who expects a consistent level of output can misread a symptom flare as disengagement, underperformance or poor attitude. The same situation can trigger discrimination, harassment, health and safety, performance management and employee relations concerns.
The other common failure is inconsistency. If one line manager offers flexibility and another refuses it, the employee experience depends on goodwill rather than policy, and that is exactly the kind of uneven treatment the EHRC guidance is designed to reduce. The safer route is a clear disclosure process, a documented response and a manager who knows what support can be offered without forcing the employee to repeat the same explanation every time.
Workplace support also does not replace healthcare. If symptoms are severe, new or getting worse, the employee should see a GP rather than trying to manage everything through work alone. The employer’s role is to remove avoidable barriers at work, not to diagnose or treat.
What good support looks like in practice
The EHRC framework points to adjustments that are often simple, low-cost and operational rather than elaborate. The strongest policies do not just say support is available. They spell out what a manager can actually do, who approves it and how it is reviewed.
Common examples include:
- flexible hours or temporary adjustments to start and finish times
- a cooler workspace, a desk move, a fan or help with temperature control
- changes to uniform requirements where fabric, fit or layering is causing problems
- easy access to toilets and rest areas
- a supportive approach to sickness absence, especially where symptoms fluctuate
- line-manager training so conversations are handled consistently and discreetly
A manager does not need to be a specialist to offer a flexible pattern for a short period, record the adjustment and check back later. What employers should avoid is leaving those decisions to individual judgment, because that is how support becomes patchy and hard to defend.
Why formal policy is now standard HR work
On 22 February 2024, the British Menopause Society said the EHRC guidance sets out employers’ legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010. It also said there is a need to raise awareness of menopause in the workplace and have a national platform to support both employers and employees.
In 2022, the Fawcett Society called Menopause and the Workplace the largest representative survey of menopausal women conducted in the UK. The report found that 1 in 10 women surveyed left their jobs because of menopause symptoms.
Acas has a dedicated page, Managing menopause - Menopause at work, and the Local Government Association has a menopause and perimenopause legal framework resource for employers and councils. The British Menopause Society also published Menopause and the workplace guidance: what to consider in July 2025, a how-to guide for employers and relevant staff considering their own menopause guidance. The Department for Work and Pensions has also published Shattering the Silence about Menopause: 12-Month Progress Report.
What employers are doing now
Employment-law firms and workplace-benefits providers, including Kingsley Napley, Dac Beachcroft, Dentons and DavidsonMorris, have published employer guides and compliance notes around the EHRC guidance.
A menopause policy that sits in a folder is not enough if managers still handle symptoms badly, if absence is not supported, or if a request for flexibility depends on who is on shift that day.