The case of Pal v Accenture has become part of a wider conversation around menstrual health, chronic conditions, and workplace support.
Sanju Pal, an Accenture employee of over 10 years, was diagnosed with endometriosis, underwent surgery, and returned to work on a phased basis. Within three months, she was dismissed under a rigid performance framework.
After a 6.5-year legal process, the Employment Appeal Tribunal overturned the original decision in January 2026.
To understand what this means in practice, we spoke to Elaine Banton, the barrister who represented Sanju Pal in the appeal.
Elaine is an employment and equality specialist at 7BR, focusing on employment, equality, discrimination and human rights law. She is also a trustee at UN Women UK and a regular media commentator on equality issues across BBC, Sky, and Channel 4.
How do you think menstrual health and related conditions are currently being handled in workplaces?
I think it’s improved, but it’s not where it should be.
You have some workplaces that are doing really well - providing menstrual health products, support, flexibility, but others are doing very little.
The experience people have can vary hugely depending on where they work, who their manager is, and whether there is an understanding of these conditions within the organisation.
Since Pal V Accenture, do you think things have already started to shift?
The community around endometriosis and other menstrual conditions is very galvanised, which has helped.
There are groups like the Endometriosis Foundation, petitions, meetings, and ongoing discussions, so this is a very active space right now.
These conditions can be debilitating, so hopefully the UK will follow other countries that have started to listen, and brought in more flexibility around menstruation, such as leave policies.
Diagnosis can play an important role in establishing legal grounds for reasonable adjustments. Does that create a risk that support becomes too dependent on paperwork?
What responsibility do employers have when someone is clearly struggling in the meantime?
Diagnosis can take years - and some people never receive one at all. Yet many women are impacted by their symptoms in ways that can be debilitating.
If you do have a diagnosis, it is important to make your employer aware that you have a condition with a substantial impact on your day-to-day activities, and that adjustments may be needed at work.
Many of these conditions are fluctuating, but they are ongoing and recurring. They do not simply disappear. This is not like having a toothache for a few days.
People with endometriosis, PCOS or fibroids can continue to experience serious symptoms even after surgery - including some of my own clients. Fatigue, for example, is strongly associated with these conditions and can have a major impact on someone’s ability to function day to day.
Regardless of a diagnosis, explaining clearly how you are affected day-to-day may help meet the legal criteria for a disability, which then places a duty on employers to consider reasonable adjustments.
Cases like this can also help provide a useful reference point, alongside official guidance on what constitutes a disability. Being informed and having the language to advocate for yourself is the important thing.
One concern some employers raise is whether policies around flexibility or access to free period products could be “taken advantage of”.
How do you respond to that concern?
You have to ask: which risk feels more important?
Yes, there may be a small number of people who misuse flexibility or support measures. But the far greater risk is failing to support the people who genuinely need them.
Most employees are not looking to exploit workplace policies. They are trying to manage very real health issues while continuing to do their jobs.
The cost of not supporting them - to their wellbeing, confidence and ability to work - is often far greater.
I’m also interested in the relationship between policy and company culture. Can you share any insight?
These things should work together:
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Policy
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Training
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Employee-led groups
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Community
That’s when you start to see real change.
The policy sets the tone, but it has to be understood, communicated, and actualised.
Otherwise, it just becomes something that exists on paper.
The conversation around menopause in the workplace has grown over recent years. With new legislation requiring many organisations to introduce Menopause Action Plans, do you think menstrual health at work could follow a similar path?
Yes, possibly,
Non-visible chronic conditions are getting more focus, and it's clear that could be extended to menstruation more broadly.
That is how you move to a place where reasonable and proportionate adjustments should apply to menstrual health more broadly, and it becomes something recognised in the workplace as something where reasonable and proportionate adjustments can apply.
For those who need it, support with menstrual health is vital because it allows them to fully participate and reach their potential at work.
What would you say are the key takeaways for employers, and employees?
Good employers will listen to employees, put good policies in place and ensure those policies are actually used. If they have employee-led networks, they must regularly have a dialogue with them and be proactive.
Listen, and support - Ultimately, it will help to retain your talent and not let women fall by the wayside.
And for employees: Educate yourself, understand the policies and try to advocate for yourself. You can lean on colleagues or managers who can support or have similar experiences.
Knowledge is power.
So, what does Pal v Accenture change?
It doesn’t suddenly solve the problem. But it does remove some of the excuses.
This case makes one thing clear: waiting for a neat diagnosis, a perfect policy, or a crisis moment isn’t good enough.
Menstrual health isn’t a niche issue and support isn’t a “nice to have” benefit. It’s already shaping people’s ability to stay in work, progress, and perform.
For employers, the direction of travel is obvious. Support can’t be reactive, and it can’t depend on whether someone has the “right” paperwork. It needs to be built in, understood and used. Because the real risk isn’t that flexibility gets taken advantage of. It’s that capable people are quietly pushed out of work altogether.
And for employees, this case is a reminder that language, awareness, and precedent matter. The more visible these conversations become, the harder they are to ignore.
Menstrual health at work is no longer a grey area. It’s just an area that hasn’t caught up yet.
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