Perimenopause at Work: Your Rights, Your Options, and How to Use Them

13 million women in the UK are currently peri or postmenopausal. Most of them are at work. Research shows that two thirds report perimenopause symptoms had a mostly negative impact on their work. Here is what you are legally entitled to ask for.

The intersection of perimenopause and the workplace is one of the most significant and least addressed aspects of the perimenopause experience. Women in their 40s and early 50s are often at the peak of their careers — carrying the most significant leadership responsibilities they have held, with the most at stake professionally — at exactly the point when perimenopause symptoms are most likely to be affecting their cognitive function, their emotional regulation, and their energy. The collision between these two realities produces significant harm: women who are leaving careers early, stepping back from promotion opportunities, or simply performing below their genuine capacity because of symptoms that are receiving no clinical or institutional support.

This is not inevitable. There are legal protections available. There are adjustments that can be requested. There are conversations that can be had — and that, had well, typically produce constructive responses from employers who are increasingly aware that perimenopause is a workplace issue.

The Scale of the Problem

The data on perimenopause and the workplace makes uncomfortable reading for employers and policymakers. Research by the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) found that two-thirds of working women aged 40 to 60 with perimenopause symptoms said they had had a mostly negative impact on their work. The Fawcett Society's research found that one in ten women who were employed during the menopause left work entirely because of their symptoms. A survey by the British Menopause Society found that more than half of women with significant perimenopause symptoms said their symptoms had a negative impact on their careers.

Beyond the individual harm, the economic cost is significant. Women in their 40s and 50s represent a substantial proportion of the experienced, senior workforce. Their premature exit from careers — or their underperformance due to unmanaged symptoms — represents a significant talent and productivity loss that is beginning to receive attention from employers, HR professionals, and policymakers as awareness of the issue grows.

The Legal Framework

The legal framework for perimenopause in the workplace is more developed than most women realise, and has been strengthened significantly in recent legislation.

The Equality Act 2010 provides protection from discrimination on the grounds of age, sex, and disability. Perimenopause symptoms that have a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a woman's ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities — a standard that is met by significant symptoms affecting cognitive function, emotional regulation, and physical comfort — may constitute a disability under the Act. This is significant, because disability status under the Equality Act requires employers to make reasonable adjustments. Failing to make reasonable adjustments for a disabled employee is unlawful discrimination.

New guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), issued in February 2024, specifically sets out employers' obligations in relation to menopausal symptoms. The guidance makes clear that employers have legal obligations to support employees experiencing menopause, that a failure to make reasonable adjustments may constitute disability discrimination, and that harassment related to menopausal symptoms may constitute sex or age discrimination. This guidance, while not itself legislation, reflects EHRC's interpretation of existing law and carries significant weight in Employment Tribunal proceedings.

The Employment Rights Act 2025 introduced new requirements for employers with 250 or more employees to publish Equality Action Plans that must include specific measures addressing how they support employees experiencing menopause. This transforms perimenopause workplace support from voluntary good practice to a statutory reporting requirement for larger employers.

What Reasonable Adjustments Look Like

Reasonable adjustments for perimenopause symptoms are as varied as the symptoms themselves. Common adjustments that employers can make — and that do not require significant cost or disruption — include flexible working hours (allowing later starts on days when sleep disruption has been severe, or providing schedule flexibility around medical appointments); the ability to work from home on difficult days without using annual leave or requiring formal justification; access to a quiet space for rest or recovery when symptoms are acute; access to a desk fan or cooler environment for women experiencing significant vasomotor symptoms in open-plan offices; changes to uniform requirements where synthetic fabrics or layers are exacerbating hot flushes; and adjustments to workload or meeting schedules during periods of particularly acute symptoms.

None of these adjustments require formal disclosure of a medical condition. They can be requested informally as practical accommodations, without needing to characterise them explicitly as disability-related adjustments. Many women find that an initial informal conversation with a supportive line manager produces the adjustments they need without the need for formal processes — and that the conversation itself, which they approached with anxiety, was met with more understanding than they expected.

Having the Conversation

The most significant barrier most women face in seeking workplace support for perimenopause is not the legal framework or employer resistance — it is the internal barrier of initiating the conversation. Most women who have successfully negotiated perimenopause adjustments at work report that the conversation was less difficult than they anticipated and that the response was more constructive than they feared. But starting it requires preparation and clarity about what you are asking for.

The preparation includes: knowing specifically what adjustments would make a material difference to your ability to perform; having a clear understanding of what you are entitled to under the legal framework (knowing you have a right to reasonable adjustments makes the conversation feel less like a favour and more like a legitimate request); and having your opening line clear and written in advance.

A practical opening line: "I'd like to discuss my situation with you. I'm experiencing significant perimenopause symptoms that are affecting my work in specific ways, and I'd like to explore whether some reasonable adjustments might help me maintain my performance while managing these symptoms." This opening line does several things: it names the condition, it connects it to specific work impact, it uses the language of reasonable adjustments (the legal framework), and it frames the conversation around performance rather than complaint.

Documenting Everything

Whatever conversations occur about perimenopause at work, document them immediately and precisely. Record who you spoke to and their role, the date, what was discussed, what was agreed, and what was not addressed. This documentation serves multiple purposes.

If adjustments are agreed and subsequently not implemented, your documentation establishes what was agreed and when — important evidence if the situation needs to be escalated. If the conversation goes badly — if your disclosure is met with dismissal, inappropriate responses, or subsequent negative treatment — your documentation creates a timeline that is essential for any formal complaint or Employment Tribunal claim. And if you change managers, HR contacts, or roles, your documentation ensures continuity — the adjustments you have negotiated are on record rather than subject to the memory of individuals who may move on.