News

Employment Rights, Legal Duties & How To Become a Menopause-Friendly Workplace

The Employment Rights Bill is in its final stages of the parliamentary process.  It includes new legislation on enhanced workplace support for menopausal women.

This legislation, expected to come into force in 2026 recognises that Menopause is no longer a “silent” topic in the workplace. Across the UK, businesses are waking up to the reality that this natural life transition deserves attention, support, and proper structure in the workplace.

From legal implications through to best practices the message is clear: employers must adapt. And this is where Sherrards can work with you, delivering impactful menopause training including our popular Menopause Café-style sessions.

All our Menopause training is led by Lorraine Sherrard, an experienced Trainer and licensed Menopause Champion certified by Menopause Experts Group (MEG).

Why Employers Must Take Action

• Over 50% of the UK workforce is female and 1:10 women leave their jobs due to menopause symptoms.
• Without policies or training, managers can unintentionally discriminate or mishandle sensitive situations.
• Supporting menopausal employees improves retention, morale, wellbeing, and diversity outcomes.

What do the changes proposed in the Employment Rights Bill mean in practical terms?

• Companies with over 250 employees are mandated to develop and publish a menopause action plan outlining steps to support employees, shifting the focus from guidance to  proactive, evidence-based action
• Smaller employers will be guided on how to adapt the workplace to help support employees.

Your Responsibility as an Employer

Employers already have clear duties under existing legislation and employees experiencing severe menopausal symptoms may be protected under The Equality Act as having a disability. They may also be protected under age, sex, and gender reassignment protections.

In addition, under the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 employers must ensure working environments do not worsen health conditions — this includes temperature control, workwear and access to rest areas.  

Cultural & Organisational Change

• Changing the conversation around menopause and women’s health in the business is key to encouraging a menopause friendly workplace and in practical terms more organisations are creating formal menopause policies and implementing linemanagement training to ensure managers understand symptoms, and to help identify reasonable adjustments.
• Some organisations are also appointing menopause champions.  Proactively promoting peer support and raising awareness is becoming increasingly common practice.

How Sherrards Training Can Support Your Business

At Sherrards, we specialise in supporting organisations to become truly menopause-friendly, offering a range of tailored training and wellbeing services including structured Menopause Training in the Workplace for managers and our new Menopause Café-Style Sessions – informal, supportive group discussions.  

“Our sessions are interactive, compassionate and practical — blending legal insight, lived experience, and coaching psychology.” – Lorraine Sherrard

Ready to Become a Menopause-Friendly Workplace?

Here’s how you can take action today:

• Book a discovery call with Lorraine and the Sherrards team
• Schedule training for your managers or HR team
• Launch a Menopause Café session
• Review your policies with our guidance and templates
• Raise awareness with in-house events, newsletters, or webinars

Why Work with Sherrards?

“Sherrards’ training opened our eyes to how much more we could be doing to support our team. Lorraine’s approach was empowering, engaging, and deeply insightful.” – HR Manager, Engineering business.

“The Menopause Café session was so valuable. It felt like the first time I could talk about this openly at work.” – Team Member, Airline associated business.

Lorraine Sherrard is a Director of Sherrards and Sherrards Occupational Health and is a highly experienced HR Consultant. Having joined the team in 2004, she has worked on a wide range of HR initiatives with many clients over the past 20 years.  

Lorraine is also a Licensed Menopause Champion as certified by Menopause Experts Group (MEG). 

As a behavioural coach in QTT™ (Quantum Thinking Transformation™), Lorraine can work with individuals who are finding themselves stuck or in need of guidance and support. QTT incorporates fundamentals of positive psychology, neuroscience, and neuro linguistics. The approach empowers clients with a toolkit of techniques, methods, and processes for dealing with life’s challenges as well as optimising life’s opportunities.  

If you would like to find out more about any of our Menopause training options please contact us via advice@sherrardslaw.com or by calling our office on 01273 834120.