Had to leave job due to perimenopause symptoms

[Finallysawthelight]

Hi I wanted some advice please. I recently got a new job and four weeks in I've had to resign. Mainly due to brain fog, fatigue and other Peri symptoms. The job was full time and before I resigned I explained that I had developed perimenopause symptoms and was struggling and could they reduce my hours to part time. They refused.

Should they have made reasonable adjustments because of my symptoms?

I ended up resigning because there was no way I could've carried on full time. I'm now looking for part time work.

I don't think reasonable adjustments applies until you're at least through probation... But I'm not hr so this is just my layman's idea of things.

Were you in a probation period?

It doesn't sound reasonable to expect them to reduce your hours to part time after such a short period of service, if the role was advertised as full time.

Im not suggesting that you did, but for all they knew you deliberately joined as a full timer with the full intention of changing to part time.

what they did (decline to employ you part time, when the role was full time) wasn't discriminatory, the Reasonable Adjustment does have to be reasonable and it wasn't in this context.

Reasonable Adjustments are a legal construct, put in place to support someone with a protected characteristic under the EqA (2010). Protection is from Day 1 of employment, so probation isn't relevant.

Did the perimenopause symptoms just start in the last 4 weeks? It would be usual to seek some medical help first to see if they improved rather than resigning from your job?

A good employer would work with you if you were also trying to help yourself and may look at temporary adjustments while you receive treatment. If this problem is longstanding though, your employer probably feels you should have declared at the outset you would need adjustments

Whilst reasonable adjustments apply at any point the do have to be reasonable.

If you were asking to work different hours but the office was only open 9-5 then the ask would not be reasonable

If you asked to work from home but the role was customer facing that would also not be reasonable

Asking to move to part time without having gone through occupational health and medical routes probably doesn't feel reasonable

I empathise as I suffered greatly with brain fog and unreasonable anxiety earlier in menopause. HRT, vitamin D and CBD have made a huge difference

There are some additional costs to an organisation if they have 2 people working to cover full time hours, slightly more NI and additional equipment. For some businesses it can be enough to be prohibitive. Flexible working requests allow a business to reject on cost grounds as one of the options.

As an employer I'd be questioning all of this, and would probably handle it by asking you to get medical advice and treatment.
Symptoms of perimenopause can be treated most likely with the correct management/HRT etc.
however 4 weeks is nothing. Too short a time to make any sort of assessment. And they just suddenly "came on" as soon as you started the job with no issues prior?

Hmm... I wouldn't dismiss you for this, would likely try and support if my gut instinct told me there was some truth in it, but in all honesty I would think your resignation was a good thing and I be relieved it was no longer my problem.

Did the employer have a menopause policy? We have a policy covering perimenopause and menopause and states support offered and procedures to follow etc. we would be very supportive of any employee who needed anything while they also sought advice from GP etc.

Yes they did have a menopause policy. Sadly though as is the case with policies so much of the time, they're not put into practice in my experience. I've seen a lot of horrible things happen in workplaces over the years including serious bullying (not me thankfully) and have got caught in the crossfire a few times when trying to support the victims. In each case the perps (this is what I'll call them) got away with it!

Thanks for all your replies everyone. On reflection I'm glad I resigned. I need to look after myself better and working in an intense highly stressful environment is really not good for me right now. I'm currently job hunting for jobs that are more slower paced and will only apply when I'm feeling I'm managing symptoms better.

The law has changed this year so that you can make a flexible working request eg to go part time, from day 1 of employment. You don't need to be out of probation.

Your perimenopause got so bad within four weeks that you moved from being able to work the full-time job that you interviewed for and accepted, so being unable to do anything more than part-time work? If the answer to that is yes, then you don't have a disability that entitles you to reaosnable adjustments. If the answer to that is no, then you applied for a job that you could not do and failed to imform the employer.

I was in a similar position recently. I'm 40. Cannot get my GP to do any tests for me though (I'm too 'young' 🙄) but convinced it is peri. Started a new job, FT, and seven weeks later had to hand my notice in as the symptoms I was experiencing were so severe.

I had a couple of months off as I got to the point I was fit for nothing. I'm now in a part time job in a much less demanding role but finding it manageable. I'm getting paid considerably less but don't feel like I'm about to crack up every day.

Give yourself some time. One thing I've realised is that my health is worth more than anything.

I have lost few jobs recently due to physical issues , including brain fog and so on, but am not giving my hard earned cash a menopause lawyer, will just keep taking on new and new jobs until something clicks with the way I am.

I had a manager who was very meno herself and was welcoming elder ladies with health issues but she was abusive. So - it is never smooth sailing, is it ( only for the tall, pretty and management types women)

Thanks for this but strangely enough I can't see into the future. If I could I would've known my symptoms were going to escalate and I wouldn't have applied for the job in the first place! And yes believe it or not, as hard as it might be to believe, my symptoms did get much much worse in the space of four weeks. And working part time does not invalidate reasonable adjustment requirements.

I feel similar. It's not worth my health or my sanity. I've done the long work weeks whilst juggling parenting and everything else and it's a great big no thanks now to that way of being for me! Not judging anyone else doing the juggling, as I said I was there myself once. I've got to the point in life now though where I feel I really need self care to be a priority for me!

I agree! I wouldn't give my hard earned money to a meno lawyer! Maybe I should've been clearer when posting the original message. There's no way I'm thinking of taking any form of action against the employer I wouldn't put myself through the stress of that, really don't need it. I was just wondering whether they should've been more considerate in practice or is it just another policy excercise where they have the policy, the "meno friendly" logo on the website, but in real life it's just not put into practice. They didn't discuss other options but I'm glad I left, it's not worth my health!

Thank you for this @Oceansriseempiresfall it's good to know for next time! Hopefully though I won't have a similar issue or situation 💕

I always wonder when people say this, I mean it might not be good for you, but don’t you still have bills to pay ? Must be nice not having to bother about money!

You can request but they don't have to agree.

Annnddd.... that's why I've worked for years and I'm now looking for a part time job...because I too have bills to pay! Yes it must be nice not to have to worry about money or even bothering to properly read messages and the like... but such is life! 😂

I was just wondering whether they should've been more considerate in practice

If it was an employee who had literally just started I would be struggling to be considerate.
If it was an existing employee with evidence of prior good attendance and had demonstrated they were hard work it would be a very different story.

I'm sure you can see the employer's side in this?

Still worth raising awareness of the law change as many people don't know about it. Of course businesses don't have to agree but they do need to consider it fairly, base their decision on business reasons and if they need to say no they should consult the employee to see if they can find a solution or compromise that does work. workingfamilies.org.uk/articles/flexible-working-a-guide-for-employees/

And I didn't say it does. But reasonable adjustments are only applicable for something classed as a disability. That means that it must not only have a significant impact on day to day life but that the impact must have lasted for 12 months or be expected to last for at least 12 months. It hasn't lasted for 12 months - it has been 4 weeks; and as you yourself say, you can't see into the future so you can't say that it will continue to be so severe for the next 11 months. Therefore it is not a disability and reasonable adjustments do not apply.

So my response was entirely relevant to the question you posed " Should they have made reasonable adjustments because of my symptoms?" At no time did I suggest that reasonable adjustment were about part-time working - I addressed whether you had a disability when you joined your employer, and the answer to that is that you did not, and therefore still do not have a disability. I hope that addresses your snipey answer.