Menopause in the Workplace

Did you know? 14 million working days were lost annually due to menopause symptoms.

In addition to this a further 370,000 menopausal people reported that they considered resigning according to research commissioned by Health & Her (April 2019). 2019 saw an increasing media and political focus on supporting menopausal individuals in the workplace, including Labour pledging to make menopause policies obligatory.

Productivity and talent is being lost because of lack of understanding and support. Recognising workplace retention in the age category who are likely to suffer menopause symptoms (45-55) is a business imperative.

We hosted a series of roundtable discussions to explore how best to tackle the problem. The results were fascinating and we are delighted to share these with you in our menopause in the workplace thought leadership paper. The paper discusses the importance of raising awareness of the menopause, normalising menopause discussions in the workplace and the existence of workplace policies that could greatly assist menopausal individuals without singling them out. It also sets out the key steps to creating a menopause friendly workplace.

The last six months have undoubtedly seen businesses shift their focus to getting through the pandemic. As we begin to ease staff back into the workplace, now is a good time to review your policies and reflect. It is important that organisations do not lose out on the ground that they had made in implementing policies and changes within their organisation with regards to diversity and inclusion.