To think this is fine to talk about in a work email

[SandAndSeals]

I’ve NC as this is potentially outing.

An awareness email went out to colleagues about the menopause. Is the email, it lists the symptoms inc. hot flushes, low mood etc and also ‘vaginal dryness and reduced sex drive’.

My colleague has put a complaint email in about it as they don’t think it’s appropriate to mention vaginal dryness is a workplace email. However I disagree. It’s a common symptom and should be listed in an awareness article. You would take out ‘difficulty holding an erection’ when discussing prostate cancer, for example.

The Health team send out other emails about out conditions and illnesses depending on what’s being asked for. I’m in the Women’s Network so I know that menopause info has been asked for.

What do you think? AIBU or is she?

Any woman over 40 in my old workplace was generally dismissed by certain male colleagues as being 'mentalpausal'. That was in local government. Adding their dry vags into the mix wouldn't be helpful. In theory the info should educate but that's not taking into account the decent percentage of my male colleagues who were immature arseholes.

Never been in a workplace that sent out menstruation information and that probably affects more of the workplace at one time than menopause.

rofl at some of the suggestions :)

As a previous poster mentioned, yes, when the team get a health request it's likely an awareness email will go out. Especially when it's mentioned by several people.

Along with this, other awareness emails go out to time with health awareness weeks or months (there's been ones around diabetes, bowel cancer, breast cancer, etc)

Then there's general health awareness or information - sometimes guided by sickness absence (viruses, flu season), sometimes about the time of year (new start (fitness/weight) - Jan, stoptober, etc).

And finally, comms will go out when a policy or guidance is in the pipeline as a lead up.

I know all of this because I have requested information + I have worked on a specific, big wellbeing event with them previously so asked about their comms plans. I haven't worked with them in the past year however, so it's possible things have changed.

That all sounds exhausting!

SandAndSeals why does your work place do this? Is it to fulfil Investor in People criteria or do you work specifically in a healthcare environment?

I'm still struggling to understand why an employer needs to or wants to try and educate its employees about general health matters that don't relate to the workplace? Do you expect employees to take action as a result? Are there consequences if they don't?

Agree, Margo. Who issues these “health requests”, op?

I work for an university and health related/awareness emails and campaigns are common.
We’ve recently had the menopause one but we get lots of others...sometimes it driven by staff or students and sometimes it can be related to people’s research but it’s a common occurrence and a feel a recognition that employees are people with other things going on and it’s in their best interest to look after them.

We have a huge push on "Wellness" at work. A lot of money has been spent on setting up a new department. We get lots of awareness emails and handy hints on how to manage your work/life balance. Apparently, if you eat less and exercise more you will lose weight. Plus, it's recommended that you apply sun screen if you go outside in the summer.

I agree that employees should be treated well. How is the outcome of your university health awareness campaigns measured Benes? What action is taken as a result? Are staff judged if they don't take more exercise, eat more healthily, moderate their drinking and so on?

What is a "health request"?

If I spoke to the "health team" for advice on a health related matter (eg lack of managerial support) I'd be pretty upset if the response was a company wide email about my condition with potentially sensitive symptoms listed.

I've heard it all now. That really belongs as a PP said, on the Health/Well Being part of your company's intranet. It's over zealous & inapropriate to send emails on every health issue you can think of. Job protection on someone's part?

This is a derail so I don't want to keep reiterating what our organisation does (because, does that ultimately matter as to whether mentioning 'vaginal dryness' in a general awareness comms is TMI or not.

However (and I'm trying not to be too outing) a lot of what we do is driven by public health. So depending on the big public health campaigns the Health and Wellbeing team's strategy will fall in line.

The health requests mentioned are usually from individuals or networks (of which we also have a lot). An individual request alone is unlikely to become a health topic, but could depending on the reasoning. Several people asking would create a health topic as it shows there is a need for awareness.

And it's not really exhausting. It's like a monthly newsletter, some adhoc intranet messages and workshops. Though I suppose I don't write them - so maybe they are?

It's actually very common place now for organisations to do this. If yours doesn't at the moment, watch it over the next couple of years. Employee engagement is proving to decrease sickness levels and retain staff. I'd imagine most of your organisations already have some policies around MH (or at least policies that include it). I wonder if you challenge those in the same way.

SandAndSeals I'm not trying to be critical but I just wonder how all of this works. How do you judge employee engagement?

Annual customer (employee) surveys, sickness levels before and after certain campaigns, OH referral trends.

(This is a bit more of how I’ve been involved with the team).

I'd imagine most of your organisations already have some policies around MH (or at least policies that include it). I wonder if you challenge those in the same way

I think the issue here is that menopausal literature can single out certain individuals by the fact they are female and of a certain age. I am the only person in my office that this could relate to so anything other than a very general mention in some wider health related document is going to make my colleagues think of me

The more info out there the better.

So the health strategy is, to some extent, driven by requests from certain individuals or groups and aims to improve employee engagement.

You've had feedback, from a woman, that the current approach to women's issues makes her feel uncomfortable (for whatever reason). Isn't that something you should be taking on board rather than telling her that she is "wrong" to feel the way she does?

I work in the public sector and the health and well being stuff is a hot topic.

For me the email would be fine and the awareness is also for women who may have been suffering from symptoms but not necessarily have considered menopause as the cause, it happens for some earlier than expected. If they read that email and think actually I have six of those ten symptoms they might seek medical advice, after that they might seek support from management, not around vaginal dryness, but fatigue, frequent urination etc.

By sending the info out as part of the health Comms it highlights that menopause is a serious medical issue that does impact the workplace. We have maternity policy to account for impact to the workplace and many employers are now recognising they need to put in place processes and support for women experiencing menopause. That's what would be the purpose in my organisation (we do now have a menopause policy, we were guided by.our unions).

These sound like campaigns to large numbers of employees SandAndSeals. There are 50 of us in the office that I work in, although we are part of a bigger organisation UK wide. As a manager I would be very nervous about emails or health awareness raising campaigns that could be seen to be targeting specific members of staff. There are 3 women in our office that I estimate would be of menopausal age and I think it would feel very awkward to be sending emails around to everyone about the symptoms they may or may not be experiencing as part of the menopause.

Equally, I know of two people who have mentioned they have type 2 diabetes to me personally - but there may be more - and it might seem awkward if we started sending emails out about managing your diabetes, because they might feel specifically targeted.

In a huge company with thousands of employees, I could see how it wouldn't feel that way but in smaller organisations it may well feel like your employer is telling you specifically how to live your life or telling other members of your team how you should be.

I also think you have to question why exactly the employer is doing this.

Is it just to minimise sick days?

Will the employer be judging members of staff who do not take it's helpful advice? Will staff start hissing through their teeth when the overweight person doesn't go for that healthy walk at lunchtime or tucks into curly fries at their desk, or the diabetic accepts a slice of sugar loaded birthday cake?

What exactly are staff supposed to do with the information about the menopause? If I'm a 25 year old male member of staff, do I now approach all older female staff with caution because they may be experiencing a mood swing or a hot flush? Again, I wonder what are the actions that employers expect as a consequence of these campaigns?

Those saying 'odd etc are clearly not going through this.

The anxiety and debilitating rage I had meant I lost my job after 20 years blameless service. I lost my temper( very briefly I have to say, literally raised my voice for one sentence) because of the totally uncontrollable feelings I was having at the time. I immediately apologised but as I am self employed that was it.

When I tried to explain I got asked " how are you goung to control your mental health issues?"

Of course people should be aware. Hot flushes might mean having to rush out of meetings for seemingly no reason. Ditto menstrual flooding. A colleague of mine couldn't sit down due to vaginal dryness and had odd looks because she stood up in meetings sometimes.

Of course people should be aware. Hot flushes might mean having to rush out of meetings for seemingly no reason. Ditto menstrual flooding. A colleague of mine couldn't sit down due to vaginal dryness and had odd looks because she stood up in meetings sometimes

I'd be astonished if she wanted the whole meeting to know she was standing because she had a sore fadge

Movinghouseatlast having IBS / Crohns / IBD could also mean that you have to step out of a meeting at speed and having a bad back, being overweight or a herpes flare up could mean you can't spend extended periods of time sitting.

Are you telling me that all of those people want their colleagues to be aware of their health issues, so that they can know why they may have to leave a meeting quickly? Really?

As a non-menopausal aged member of staff, is my employer expecting me to approach all menopausal aged members of staff with caution in case they are having a mood swing, feeling full of rage or having a hot flush? What as an employee am I supposed to do with the information that my employer is giving me about menopausal women? As a manager, what am I supposed to do with that? Do I excuse unprofessional behaviour by members of my team who I think may be menopausal because they may be dealing with symptoms of the menopause? Am I expecting them to disclose this to me? Will I be guilty of prejudice towards them if I expect less of them than another member of the team because they may be menopausal?

It is all very well employers "sharing" information about the menopause but what are staff supposed to do with that?

The anxiety and debilitating rage I had meant I lost my job after 20 years blameless service. I lost my temper( very briefly I have to say, literally raised my voice for one sentence) because of the totally uncontrollable feelings I was having at the time. I immediately apologised but as I am self employed that was it.

I can’t quite believe that after 20 years of blameless service you were fired for raising your voice once.

A lot of people have a lot of hormonal issues that could cause a bad temper - PMS, pregnancy etc etc. Are we to make allowances for absolutely everyone who cannot control their temper because of what they blame on hormones?

I can see both sides. However I don’t really find ‘vaginal dryness’ offensive or really that inappropriate. Sure, some immature colleagues might find that hilarious. But it’s nothing comparable to something like ‘smelly, thick, yellow cottage cheese discharge’ or whatever. It’s quite tame.

I get how mood and temperature might be relevant to in places of work but I'm unsure what vaginal dryness has to do with places of work...