We must do more

The number of women taking action against their employers for menopause-related discrimination is rising. Employment lawyers are supporting more people through tribunals and sharing best practices. But are law firms doing enough to support their own employees going through menopause?

According to data from the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the proportion of women in law firms rose to 53% in 2023. But the seniority gap for women remains, with only 32% of full-equity partners being women. Research by Law.com International found that while law firms in the UK hire far more female lawyers than male at trainee level, there is a huge drop-off in female retention after the three-year post-qualification mark.

With women less likely to become partners and more likely to leave the profession early, it’s clear that more must be done to remove barriers for women in law. A key factor in this is menopause support.

Raising awareness of perimenopause and menopause

Dr Fiona O’Donoghue, a GP and menopause specialist at Glasgow Medical Rooms with over 25 years’ experience in the NHS, says the average age women experience menopause is 51. However, a woman is only considered to be in menopause when her periods have stopped for 12 months. Perimenopause, when the body begins to transition into menopause, can last for up to 10 years.

Symptoms include hot flashes, sweats, brain fog, sleep disturbance and even anxiety and depression. “Another common symptom relative to the workplace is mood changes: irritability, lack of confidence and feeling like you can’t concentrate,” says Dr O’Donoghue.

She continues: “It’s not something that only affects older women or even necessarily middle-aged women. We don’t consider it early menopause unless you’re under 40. Another common misconception is that a lot of women think they can’t take HRT [hormone replacement therapy]. But, in fact, there are very few exclusions that prevent someone from being able to take it and, very importantly, it helps to prevent heart attacks and osteoporosis in later life.”

From conversations with patients, Dr O’Donoghue explains that many women retire early or don’t pursue promotions due to menopause symptoms. One in five women in the UK expect to leave work before they plan to retire due to health, wellbeing or menopause concerns, according to the British Standards Institution (BSI).

Menopause support in the legal profession

“Women in their 40s and 50s are the fastest-growing group in the workplace and as more than 50% of the solicitor profession in Scotland are women, it’s crucial that we take women’s health seriously,” says Elaine MacGlone, Equality and Diversity Manager at the Law Society of Scotland.

While Elaine is seeing more prominent discussion of menopause in the legal profession, she says the topic still carries a certain stigma and degree of embarrassment for some. She explains that this is why it’s important for employers to offer practical support and adjustments. “We published a menopause guide a number of years ago to help both individuals and employers access useful support and information.”

Many other companies, like The Adecco Group, are also taking proactive steps to provide menopause support. Helen Tomlinson, Head of Talent (UK & Ireland) at the organisation, is England’s first Menopause Workplace Champion. “Within my government work, the legal profession would sit in the professional and technical strand and, because of the nature of those roles, they tend to have more autonomy over their work spaces.”

But, she says, while this autonomy makes it easier to practically manage physical symptoms, the isolation associated with this autonomy can exacerbate psychological symptoms like anxiety, brain fog and lack of confidence. “So, it shouldn’t be assumed that if you have autonomy over your schedule, you are automatically okay.”

Supporting female retention in the workplace

Around 17% of women have considered leaving work due to a lack of support in relation to their menopause symptoms, and a further 6% have left work. Additionally, more than 10% feel discriminated against because of their menopausal symptoms, according to CIPD’s  Menopause in the Workplace report.

Diane Danzebrink, founder of not-for-profit organisation Menopause Support, says: “I have certainly counselled those in the legal profession who have left their roles due to not realising that what they were experiencing was related to hormone fluctuation during perimenopause.” Diane says the right information prior to perimenopause would have allowed these women to seek help and make informed decisions about their careers.

Providing menopause education and support is also a key priority for the Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health, Jenni Minto MSP. “Within the Women’s Health Plan, we committed to develop a menopause and menstrual health workplace policy, as an example of best practice, starting with NHSScotland, and promote it across the public, private and third sector.”

Leading by example in the Scottish legal profession

Being recognised as the first Menopause-Friendly Employer in Scotland was a significant achievement for law firm, Burness Paull. Managing partner Tamar Tammes says: “The stigma surrounding menopause isn’t exclusive to the legal profession, but it can have a particularly significant impact in sectors where women are already under-represented at senior levels. In professions like law, where there’s a historical lack of gender diversity in leadership roles, women may hesitate to draw attention to anything perceived as a weakness, fearing it could hinder their career progression or performance.”

To combat this, the firm trained several volunteer menopause champions, established a resources hub, conducted firm-wide training and developed a policy framework to formalise their commitment. They also reviewed their existing flexible working policy, absence policy and occupational health and medical benefits to ensure they can offer a range of reasonable adjustments.

Implementing menopause support in law firms

Tamar says law firms can support employees going through menopause by investing time in training for managers and staff. She also advises firms to set up a dedicated HR, wellbeing and/or occupational health team.

Helen at The Adecco Group also advises law firms to refer to the four key pillars of cultural change to support employees.

The first pillar is education, to dispel myths and facilitate empathetic conversations around reasonable adjustments. The second is allyship, whereby law firms can appoint a menopause champion and arrange networks to support colleagues. The third is lived experience, which involves creating a safe space for people to share their own stories, at all levels in the organisation. The fourth is leadership.

Helen says: “There is only so much colleagues can do. Leadership support coupled with these groups meeting in the middle is what drives real cultural change. Get leaders to be part of the education, allyship and lived experience.”

Written by Sophie Campbell