Menopause, workplace adjustments

[TSSDNCOP]

I am writing an essay for a course I am doing. The topic I have chosen is menopause, specifically assessing the effects on our organisation (public) and what reasonable adjustments could be made to support women better.

I have loads of research material and I'm pleased with progress but what I can't find is examples of where workplaces have implemented facilities to support women.

Can any of you help by describing ways your organisation public or private has adapted to support women eg showers, laundry bags, proximity to toilets, stocking toilets, providing an area for keeping changes of clothes etc, rest spaces, OH, clued up managers/HR. There must be some supportive organisations out there by now!!

Also does your organisation count a menopause related absence differently to say, a cold, and more like a pregnancy related absence?

Thank you for your insights

www.imperial.ac.uk/events/116806/menopause-workshop-for-individuals-who-will-be-personally-affected-by-the-menopause/

I'm coming out of a hideous menopause. I've had no adjustments and it didn't occur to me to ask. I'm not entirely sure what I would've asked for to be honest.

@Milomonster were you given work time to attend? Thank you!

@Silvercatowner you poor thing, are you feeling battlescarred or full of beans?

do you maybe work in an office; was the ventilation ok, could you have a fan, were your employers sympathetic? If you have a standing job, were you able to take breaks? What if you needed the loo urgently?

Do you think it's a case that women put the heads down and crack on? Given the number of 44-55 in the workplace is that right

I look at the uniforms in Sainsbury and M&S and think they must be utter hell for a hot flash.

I didn’t attend as I’m not meno but I recall feeling happy that it was being addressed. Staff don’t need to book time off to attend internal workshops.

@TSSDNCOP I have sent a PM

Thank you Silver

i'm a retail department manager....3 of us are menopausal

we were all 3 going to class ourselves as mask exempts the end didnt but i would have signed them off for it if requested

NHS. We have monthly Menopause Cafes. 60% of our staff are female: 60% of them are over 45. We have younger staff going through menopause due to cancer as well. We’ve changed the uniforms to work better for menopausal women (looser, natural fibres etc). Also fitted air con where we can.

Off the top of my head, reasonable adjustments given specifically for menopause have included changes of hours/modified or different roles, additional breaks and allowing the taking of leave at short notice.

Thankyou so much. Masks! Oh my god with a hot flash!!!

Thank you Tits, I am in education so similar demographic. The short-notice leave interests me. I am thinking that needs to be explored more and possibly consider not marking MP related absence as sick.

I wonder actually if many absence symptoms such as IBS, Migraine are really Menopause but the woman doesn't feel able to say that...

My employer don’t do anything to support. In fact they do the bare minimum in general across the board.

@TSSDNCOP

Thankyou so much. Masks! Oh my god with a hot flash!!!

Thank you Tits, I am in education so similar demographic. The short-notice leave interests me. I am thinking that needs to be explored more and possibly consider not marking MP related absence as sick.

I wonder actually if many absence symptoms such as IBS, Migraine are really Menopause but the woman doesn't feel able to say that...

Biggest push is around honesty and openness. The Cafes allow women to see that they aren’t going mad and menopause affects everyone. We also have a specific section on our RTW form to encourage discussion and reporting of issues. Execs have committed to acting on feedback. It’s been massively well received. I can barely walk down a corridor without someone talking to me about menopause these days!

We do mark sickness absence as sickness, but managers have discretion to not count it towards triggers. The short notice leave is so that if they have a bad night or are struggling with wellbeing they can take a break rather than feel the only option is to go sick.

The other issue is that women in this age group are often juggling issues outside of work: elderly parents/in laws; supporting adult children at home or caring for grandchildren. So we have other support available including financial and counselling because they are in the middle of a lot of issues.

I'm part of a wonderful Team and fully supportive managers but they are supportive and a great listening ear for everyone, whatever we are going through.
I wouldn't expect - nor have needed any of the things you listed in your opening post. I know someone will come along and say "Oh well you were lucky then", but actually, I don't want to encourage some sort of 'expectation' that every woman in a 15 year age range will struggle to cope at work.

As you might expect, many of my friends (and sibling, cousins, etc, as well as colleagues) are of similar age and I think most of them would be quite at anyone suggesting they need things put in place 'en-masse' any more than any other group of people.

I struggle far more at work when I had small children and a baby than I did with menopause, but I wouldn't be so arrogant as to suggest my organisation should bring beds into the office so that parents of non-sleeping children can have a lie down for a couple of hours in the afternoon. Ditto people coping with looking after elderly parents, or any other caring responsibilities.
I'd 100% be behind any way of encouraging all managers to listen to individual issues and needs but I'm very wary of "assuming" that ALL women are going to struggle at work

If not phrased properly, I think there is the danger of feeding into the 'women are driven by their hormones and therefore can't be taken seriously' narrative?

Apart from that - like a PP said - I was sent into early menopause and did not really notice, but then I did not really notice my periods either.

We have a menopause policy, which I wrote, but to be honest, increasing awareness and making it ok to have open conversations is at the heart of it. Everyone is different and will have differing needs so simply plonking a fan at every bank of desks was never going to be the answer.

What is probably the answer for us is really being flexible about working patterns, making it much easier to request emergency paid leave and addressing well-being frequently and holistically across the business.

Our latest diversity stats show we have an issue in retaining women aged over 55 in the business so it's one of my key focus points at the moment. There are often a lot of life events going on for women at around that age, so it's a challenge to know what to tackle first.

@carlywurly May I ask what prompted you wrote a policy? What does it include? How does it benefit women and your organisation?

I do think there's a balance between creating an expectation that everyone will take advantage vs having nothing structural in place and having an almost "you're going through menopause you're not sick (the later version of you're pregnant not sick)."

Menopause will obviously effect every woman differently, but it will happen to every woman. So for every woman that manages fine, there could be another that's melting in a polyester corporate uniform with their pants stuffed with sanpro having to negotiate loo breaks with an unsympathetic manager.

I'm in a small firm so there's no policy per se. It's mostly male but I asked if anyone minded my small desk fan (we are spaced miles apart anyway due to covid so I'm not blowing bacteria around anyone else). We're roughly the same age so although no specific conversation has been had it's pretty obvious when I'm struggling. I wouldn't be uncomfortable raising most symptoms if I had to. I'd cheerfully write the policy though. Chapter one: Brain Fog

I work in quite an aware organisation and we have had menopause awareness blogs and similar. I didn't need/ ask for anything but if I had there would have been an effort to accommodate I think. We also have a good wellbeing offering, mental health first aiders etc so actually it's more a decent organisation all round rather than anything targeted at menopause.

We already have showers, quiet resting rooms with beds, outdoor areas, space for hanging clothes. Though none specifically for menopause but because we're a very inclusive organisation with a large number of volunteers and employees with additional needs.
That said, we've all been requested to complete the surveys re women's needs that were being asked by the government etc. So they are certainly also focussing on women's health issues per se.

@Peckhampalace I am taking MHFA training now. I'm not sure if the welcome attention on MH, well-being, menopause is because of CV, or if it was due anyway but either way it must be for the good.

Surely some of the thinks people are asking for should be commonsense?

Polyester corporate uniforms, a return is needed to natural fibre anyway. Polyester takes hundreds of years to break down, every time someone washes one microscopic plastic fibres make their way into the environment.

Fans, men normally feel warmer than women, you'll never please everyone temperature wise in an office or work place. So surely if men or women want a fan they should be provided or allowed to use a USB one?

How will it help women’s equality at work in the long run if there are campaigns for special adjustments and sick leave that isn’t counted? It’s likely to inhibit The careers of middle aged women rather than help them.

It's a debate. Pregnancy related absence is not counted in the same way as absence through sickness. Menopause symptoms if they're experienced are not a choice. There are research papers that indicate woman leave their jobs during menopause. Do we want people leaving jobs because of a biological inevitability?