Menopause in the workplace

Menopause Awareness Month is highlighted every year in October with the World Menopause Day falling on 18th. The purpose is to raise awareness, focus attention and start a conversation to help break the taboo and stigma of the menopause.

A few facts about the menopause

• The average age is 51 in the UK, but often the menopause starts from the age of 45 and in some cases before 40 years of age. 4 million women aged 45-55 currently work (ONS 2021)
• Menopausal symptoms can begin months or even years before periods stop (peri-menopause), and they can last around four years after the last period (post-menopause).
• The symptoms can range from barely noticeable to almost debilitating with 1 in 4 women experiencing serious symptoms.

Why is a menopause strategy important to employers?

Employers have a duty of care to encourage an inclusive work environment and that includes equipping staff members and managers with the knowledge required to support women going through the menopause.  This can be done through simple training as well as including a policy within the staff handbook. For a woman experiencing menopausal symptoms, knowing that their manager and colleagues have a greater understanding and that the organisation is there to support her is invaluable.

It will help:

• Employee wellbeing: Supporting employees through menopause can improve their wellbeing, reducing stress and health-related issues. This, in turn, can positively impact morale and productivity. People experiencing menopausal symptoms require the same support and understanding from their employer as anyone experiencing any ongoing health condition.
• Retention and recruitment: A supportive menopause strategy can attract and retain talent by showcasing a commitment to employee health and inclusivity
• Reduce absenteeism: Addressing menopause-related symptoms can decrease absenteeism, as employees may feel better equipped to manage their health at work
• Diversity and inclusion: A menopause strategy contributes to an inclusive workplace culture that recognises and accommodates the needs of all employees. The Equality Act 2010 protects workers against discrimination – while menopause isn’t a protected charactersitic, age, sex and gender reassignment are.

The Menopause Toolkit – how People Business can support your menopause initiative

People Business has been supporting organisations with training and development for over 20 years and Menopause in the Workplace is just one of our many programmes designed to support inclusivity and diversity in the workplace.

Whether delivered face to face or online, we can help your organisation to break the menopause stigma and encourage staff members to be more understanding. The toolkit we offer can include a workshop, e-learning, guidance documents for employees and managers, a tailored adjustment plan template, a policy for your handbook and more.

You can choose all or some of the tools from the menopause toolkit to achieve any or all of the following objectives for your organisation:

• Educate and raise awareness within the workplace about menopause
• Implement policies that accommodate the needs of employees experiencing menopause
• Provide access to health resources, counselling or support groups
• Equip managers with the knowledge and tools to support employees going through menopause
• Seek feedback from employees about the effectiveness of the strategy
• Ensure compliance with laws and regulations regarding workplace health and inclusivity.

Client feedback on our menopause toolkit

Our client, JPC, asked us to deliver menopause awareness training separately to managers and staff. It was very well received by all participants.

Yashmin Mistry, Managing Partner, JPC

“I just wanted to reach out and say congratulations and well done for an extremely well-planned session. The feedback has been positive and the delivery, level and approach were spot on for such a heavy subject. Thank you to our in-house colleague Julie Edmonds, Head of Employment Law and Lucilla Kearsey from People Business for the time and efforts you have both put into this. You were both excellent.”

Our client, WaterAid, approached us to help them to create an education and awareness programme involving training and specialist resources about menopause and menstrual health in the workplace for their UK organisation.

Noosh de Silva-Parker, Head of People UK

“WaterAid is committed to building an organisational culture that supports and empowers employees impacted by symptoms associated with menstrual health and menopause. Our brilliant new educational resources will help us to raise awareness of the issue and harvest an inclusive work environment, enabling people to be at their best. Thank you for all your help and support to get us to a great place on this programme.” 

Find Out More

For more information about our menopause toolkit, contact us at info@peoplebusiness.co.uk.