Legal cases | Menopause tribunal cases have tripled in 3 years - here's why

Employment tribunal claims citing menopause are spiking as employers struggle to get to grips with the ever-widening definition of disability, according to new figures. 

Law firm Nockolds analysed data obtained from HM Courts & Tribunal Service, revealing that employment tribunal claims citing menopause have more than tripled since 2022, rising from 64 to 204 claims. These are a mixture of disability, sex and age discrimination as well as constructive and unfair dismissal claims.

Nockolds says that plans in the Employment Rights Bill to make unfair dismissal a day-one right, together with the requirement for employers to publish Equality plans, including a commitment to supporting employees going through menopause, could lead to a further spike in menopause-related claims.

An analysis by Nockolds of data obtained from Acas, the workplace conciliation and arbitration service run by the Government, reveals that disability discrimination claims sent for conciliation have surged by 30 percent, from 6,545 to 8,496. Disability discrimination claims now comprise a quarter of the total number of claims referred to Acas for conciliation.