October 18th is World Menopause Day – a day to raise awareness and break the stigma around menopause. For those experiencing it, it’s often something they can be affected by 365 days of the year. That’s why we are pleased to support the campaign, helping to add to the conversation and understanding of menopause, and the health and wellbeing of older women.
In this article we are going to look at menopause through the lens of an organisation, as much as a health or age issue. According to the CIPD, 4.4 million women aged 50-64 are in work, and yet we are at a time when more women are falling out of the workplace, of which menopause is just one reason. This is why it becomes an organisational issue too. Many women want to work but feel unable to, and that means a drain of often highly experienced female talent.
We’ll be asking organisations what more they could be doing to support women – and also trans and non-binary people – who are experiencing this phase of their lives. And we’ll be sharing some of our own suggestions to help.
About World Menopause Day
It falls on October 18th every year. As the name suggests, it is a truly global event, as menopause knows no boundaries. As with many awareness campaigns, the focus can change each year, and organisations can choose to support it in whatever way they feel helps their people. This year, the International Menopause Society (IMS) are focusing on Menopause Hormone Therapy (MHT), in 2023 it was the link between reproductive factors and cardiovascular disease, another important aspect of menopause that women need to be aware of.
Last year for example, NHS Employers covered the day with their own awareness page and many organisations share lived experiences and offer professional support to colleagues. As women comprise roughly half of the UK’s workforce, greater awareness of the issues and the support available is more likely to help women remain in work. This can only be a good thing.
The impact of menopause at work
The reality is that the impact of menopause symptoms can be challenging not just for women, but for employers too. According to research by the CIPD interviewing nearly 1500 women, most working women aged 40–60 have experienced symptoms, and over half have been unable to work as a result. As well as hot flushes, the most common symptoms are psychological, such as anxiety, depression and memory loss. Nearly 60% of people experiencing menopause symptoms say it has a negative impact on them at work. Indeed, many find it harder to concentrate and others say it affects their patience with colleagues.
To illustrate the impact of menopause in just one organisation, from August 2021 to July 2022, over 350 instances of menopause-related absence were recorded across more than 80 NHS trusts in England.
Menopause and the workplace in numbers
The reality for many women is that they are already challenged by caring and family responsibilities. Menopause symptoms can be the ‘tipping point’ that causes them to leave their careers or decide against promotions for fear that they’ll be unable to cope.
These CIPD stats illustrate the impact of menopause symptoms on women’s careers and sadly, their inability to share their experiences with their employer.
- Three out of five working women aged between 45 and 55 who are experiencing menopause symptoms say it has a negative impact on them at work.
- More than half of this group said they experienced more stress and nearly a third of women have taken sick leave due to their symptoms.
- Only 25% of women felt able to talk to their line manager and tell them the real reasons why. Indeed, more women say they feel supported by their colleagues (48%) when going through the menopause than by their managers (32%).
What’s more, the Fawcett Society found that eight out of ten women say their employer hasn’t shared information, trained staff, or put in place a menopause absence policy. This alone suggests that there is a lot more that organisations need to do.
Improving the understanding of menopause in the workplace
While there are many individual actions that employers can take, we believe the wider outcome should lead to a more supportive and informed working environment where women can feel comfortable and confident discussing the menopause.
So, how do we get there? Here are some ideas:
Help your line managers understand: You may wish to incorporate specific training for your line managers to understand what menopause is, how to have conversations with those affected and what adjustments would be helpful. Line managers are often the first point of contact for teams but, if that line manager is male, or much younger, it’s not difficult to see how apprehensive some women might feel coming forward, which is why so few do.
Enable your colleagues to offer support: The understanding and support of colleagues is also of significant help to those affected. You could consider the provision of ‘buddies‘ in the workplace who are trained and act as informal sources of support and signposting.
Encourage conversations: Simply having a conversation about the menopause is often the best place to begin and can be the first step towards feeling better supported and understood. For example, some NHS organisations have introduced ‘Menopause Cafes’ or similar, where women can meet and discuss the issue in a friendly and supportive session.
Promote external support: It’s possible that some staff, such as those who are transgender or non-binary, may be nervous about using open or employer support forums so having details of external organisations that offer help would be very helpful. Utilising your Employee Assistance Programme may also be beneficial, or the input of your occupational health service.
Plan considerate adjustments: Some of the simplest changes can have a huge impact on making the workplace more bearable and send a strong message to those experiencing menopause that you want to help. These could include flexible working to mitigate the effects of poor sleep, easy access to cold drinking water and good ventilation. If your staff wear uniforms, consider versatility of items to manage hot flushes – layers and natural fibres are preferred and help improve comfort levels.
Create a menopause policy: Why not bring all of this together in a menopause policy if you haven’t already? A policy serves to show best practice to line managers in how to support their team members as well as remind employees of the support that’s there for them.
In conclusion
If your organisation wants to do more to shift the taboo around menopause, it should be seen as any other medical condition and your people should feel able and confident about having open conversations. With greater awareness, line managers and colleagues will perhaps be able to understand what may lie behind changes in behaviour and requests to change working practices and hours. Everyone’s experience will be individual, so flexibility and understanding are needed with every conversation.
Get our Menopause guides
Cordell Health have produced a new podcast as well as guides on the menopause written for employees, line managers and HR. These are available to subscribers to our wellbeing service. If you are not signed up to this service and would like to find out more, please contact us on wellbeing@cordellhealth.co.uk.
More information
You may find these sites helpful in expanding your understanding of the symptoms of menopause:
The CIPD Let’s Talk Menopause webinar
The Fawcett Society: Menopause and the Workplace
