Are new work rules on menopause needed?

AT A TIME when employees seek any excuse to work from home, struggling companies are told they must make special accommodation for menopausal women. Failure to do so will no longer be tolerated, says the latest Equality and Human Rights Commission diktat. As a retired woman who endured debilitating menopausal symptoms, I pride myself that I ensured they had as little impact as possible on my working life. These new proposals will serve only to ensure a further decline in the British economy. HILARY DAVIES, Llangefni, Anglesey.

IF BOSSES have to provide menopausal women with cooler uniforms, fans and quiet rooms, as well as allowing them to work from home and making provision for female staff needing ‘cramp days’ and taking maternity leave, they will think twice before hiring them. Ladies, you are painting yourselves into a corner.

NORRIE McGEACHIE, Corby, Northants.

THE new law will merely promote short-term contracts for women over a certain age, so when they approach the menopause, their contract won’t be renewed. The menopause is a natural process and many women have it bad, but they are not disabled and there are ways to counteract it. Having been forced to give up HRT when I developed breast cancer, my life is now hot flushes, night sweats, brain fog and irritability. I must be hell to live with, but I don’t need to be patronised.

GINA SCOTTING, Lancing, W. Sussex. I HEAR the sound of lawyers rubbing their hands with glee, now they know aggrieved menopausal women can sue their employers.

DAVID JACOBSEN, Hirwaun, Rhondda Cynon Taf.