Supporting employees with menopause at work

Employers need to support staff through every stage of menopause and it’s vital that they raise awareness among staff that they will handle menopause in the workplace sensitively, and with dignity and respect

CREDIT: This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared on Acas

Employers should consider how an employee’s job role and responsibilities could make their menopause symptoms harder to deal with, for example if:

• they work long shifts;
• they cannot take regular toilet breaks;
• their job requires a uniform which may cause discomfort;
• their job does not have much flexibility.

There are several steps employers can take to make sure they have early conversations with staff and find solutions before problems arise and training managers properly is the first step. It can give staff more confidence to talk to their managers about the effects of the menopause on their work if they know the managers are trained to:

• talk and listen sensitively;
• find ways to give support;
• know about menopause and its effects;
• know what support and guidance the organisation can offer.

Employers should train all managers, supervisors and team leaders to make sure they understand:

• how the law relates to menopause;
• how to talk with and encourage staff to raise any menopause concerns;
• how different stages and types of menopause can affect staff;
• what support and workplace changes are available to staff;
• how to deal with menopause issues sensitively and fairly;
• how gender identity links to menopause and why it’s important.

Carrying out health and safety checks

By law, employers are responsible for the health and safety of all staff, including those working from home. Employers must conduct a risk assessment of their staff’s work and workplace, including any work from home. This includes:

• generally assessing health and safety risks at work;
• minimising, reducing and, where possible, removing health and safety risks for staff.

For staff affected by menopause, this includes ensuring menopause symptoms are not made worse by the workplace or its work practices and making changes to help staff manage their symptoms when doing their job. For menopause, a risk assessment could include:

• the temperature and ventilation of the workplace;
• the material and fit of the organisation’s uniform, if there is one, and whether it might make staff going through menopause feel too hot or cause discomfort;
• whether there’s somewhere suitable for staff to rest if needed, for example, a quiet room;
• whether toilet facilities are easily accessible;
• whether cold drinking water is available;
• whether managers and supervisors have been trained on health and safety issues relating to menopause.

Employers should review risk assessments regularly to make sure their staff’s working environments remain safe and healthy. Employers should also make sure that staff know they can approach their managers to raise any health and safety issues and will not be put at a disadvantage, or treated less favourably, if they do so.

Developing a menopause policy

To help staff feel supported it’s a good idea to have a policy specifically for menopause which should be shared across the whole organisation, be regularly reviewed and be the basis for any training the organisation gives to managers. Having a menopause policy can help everyone in the organisation understand what menopause is and how it can affect people, how it affects everyone differently and what support is available to staff affected by it. The menopause policy should:

• explain what training is provided to managers, supervisors and team leaders;
• explain who the organisation’s point of contact is for queries related to menopause;
• show how the organisation is open and trained to talk and listen sensitively about the effects of menopause;
• include the employer’s commitment to support its diverse workforce and to prevent discrimination.

Employers should make some allowances when supporting staff through menopause because everyone’s experience will be different. They should review current health, safety and wellbeing policies to make sure they cover any links with menopause. This could include reviewing:

• diversity and inclusion policies – for example, on sex, race, disability and gender reassignment;
• flexible working policies;
• absence management policies;
• sickness reporting policies.

Managing sickness absence and job performance

Because menopause can be long-term, and affects everyone differently, managing absence from work should be handled sensitively. Employers should keep talking with their staff and be prepared to make changes to help staff continue to work and take into consideration any performance issues which might be due to menopause symptoms. It’s a good idea for employers to talk to staff about any changes that could help them do their job. Staff should also be given a reasonable amount of time to adjust to any changes made.

When someone is off sick because of menopause, the employer should record these absences separately from other absences because there may be times when it could be unfair or discriminatory to measure menopause-related absence as part of the person’s overall attendance record.

It’s also good practice for an employer to allow staff to go to medical appointments related to menopause – there is no law for this type of time off, but employees and workers might have a right to paid or unpaid time off written in their employment contracts. Employers must not discriminate against someone because of their menopause symptoms.

Create menopause and wellbeing champions

Having a menopause or wellbeing champion at work could help people affected by menopause. The ‘champion’ could be a point of contact if staff need advice, or someone to initially talk to if they are not comfortable talking to their managers. With support from the champion, employers, HR and managers could:

• run workshops in the organisation to raise awareness among staff;
• let all staff know that the employer will try to support those having difficulties because of symptoms, for example through posters or newsletters;
• check that health and safety risk assessments cover the different stages of menopause;
• set up a support network for staff affected by menopause;
• tell staff where they can find more information.