Menopause legislation - helpful or not?

[Runor]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-68366519

Firms must make reasonable adjustments for menopause. Great for women, or another reason for a business to recruit a man instead?

Speaking as a middle-aged woman who would like to get back into the workforce, I’m not sure this is going to help! What do you think?

I don't think this is a new thing but in my experience, workplace menopause policies are just paying lip service and don't actually help.

I’d be surprised if many places make adjustments but I don’t think it’s a good thing - it’s just another stick to beat women with and implies we can’t cope. It’s hard enough moving up the career ladder in your 40s/50s without employers thinking you’re going to be flaky and need special treatment.

It may help some established women but this probably happens to a certain extent already. It won't encourage the hiring of women over 45.
So good for some individuals but bad for women overall.
Like a lot of new "societal" rules lately.

I also worry as this just discourages male management from recruiting and promoting women beyond a certain age.

I find it cringe and infantilising

I don't see how any of this is going to work in my profession. Primary teacher.

I think it’s going to do more harm than good.

Not only are women going to be pushed aside by employers because of the pregnancy/maternity leave implications, but they are now going to be pushed aside because of the menopause too.

I think men are seen to be a preferable candidate anyway and this will just make it worse.

Wasn’t there talk once of changes being implemented to accommodate women with painful menstruation called “Period Leave” or something or other? I may have imagined this.

If so, females will be undesirable employees from the age of 12 😬

I do think allowances should be made to accommodate what women have to go through (pregnancy, maternity, periods and menopause) but I think it will come at a price.

I wouldn’t limit it to male management.

Management, regardless of their sex, want reliable and present staff. It’s all about getting the most out of their business for their own personal financial gain and I don’t think female management are going to put “sisterhood” before that.

I'm well past menopause, but going on my (admittedly sample of one) experience of the MH provision in exjob, companies will make a big song and dance about how committed they are to it until it's actually needed. Then God help you, because management won't, and in many cases it'll probably mark you out as someone who can't cope and who needs to be managed out.

Menopause is not a disability, it’s a time of life which affects all women, some will find it difficult some will cope fine. I’m all for raising awareness but I don’t think it should be thought of as a disability. Doesn’t that detract from people who have life long disabilities?

If it would stop my (male) boss from yelling in my face on a daily basis, or following me around and standing behind me until I inevitably make a mistake, then I would welcome this. My menopause symptoms are just starting to become troublesome and I would welcome a little understanding.

Obviously, that won't happen, and I think that in most workplaces, there will be either a culture of support for (all) employees who face difficulties, or there will not. In mine there is not. Changing a workplace culture is a difficult thing, and will take more than this.

I can't believe they expect offices to open windows to reduce the overall temperature for ONE member of staff so the rest have to shiver !
That's not going to be popular.

Exactly it ought to be protected under the characteristic of sex and not disability. We can guess why it isn’t though. There are activists who want the woman’s rite of passage/biological process that menopause is to be separated from womanhood.

Terrible thing in my industry. It's hard enough being a) a woman and b) older in tech without giving them ANOTHER reason to pass over for promotion/pay less/age out women.

I file this under the same 'don't bring your whole self to work' initiative as the john Lewis fetishists. My menopausal status (or mentsrual status) is no one at work's business and I don't want HR drawing attention to it, making me look old and past it to the 30 something dude bros. If it is affecting your ability to work, just like pregnancy, PMT, IBS, any long term chronic condition - then you see your GP and speak one on one to HR.

Also, what reasonable adjustments are really needed? if you need a day off because of symptoms then you phone in sick, as normal. If you are suffering from hot flushes and don't want to take HRT, which btw makes menopause pretty much a non issue in terms of symptoms but I appreciate not everyone cam/wants to take it, then bring a fan into work, if you don't mind everyone knowing that you are experiencing menopause. Other people such as myself are much more private and I don't want HR bods coming up to me and asking me about menopause becasue I am approaching 50. And I have to say people going on about it and flapping their arms and going on about hot flushes does imo make them look like they're not going to be able to cope with a full workload.

This is just a new initiative dreamt up by unions and HR people becasue they've run out of things to fetishize about being a woman. Where are the Erectile Dysfunction and Male Pattern Baldness reasonable adjustments?

Definitely not. It's not only patronising, but sends the (incorrect) message that all older female employees are a liability. Just gives employers another reason not to take on women as staff.

Yes, abolutely, Caroline Noakes is of that school of thought.

My family memebr, in his thirties, works for a trade union and loves a cause. I had a big argument with him recently about this. He was going on about how women who work in Morrissons have a right to demand cotton uniforms not polyester when they're menopausal (er the younger women and the blokes would probably also appreciate being cooler), and really couldn't come up with anything else when I asked him what their shiny new menopausal policy would actually entail. He also didn't have an answer when I asked him whether anyone had actually asked woman 40-60 whether they wanted all this extra scrutiny. I haven't met one as yet.

Yeah. I'm as cynical about this as most posters.

I would prefer the government to spend less time creating more exciting gesture legislation and a whole lot more time making the existing legislation actually work effectively.

Oh no no no, this is ghastly. As a 50 year old woman I feel exposed and humiliated. My menopause and HRT are my business and mine alone.

Spot on re this bring your whole self to work bullshit.

And you're exactly right with 'exposed and humiliated' - that's exactly it!

I do get intensely irritated by the current narrative around HRT. It is literally expected that you go on HRT now to manage what is a totally natural process of womanhood.

This will only make that narrative worse. You can just hear the subtle probing about whether someone is on HRT...and if so, no problem, but if you dare to go wild and just go through the menopause 'unmedicated' - instant liability.

More medicating away of womanhood ahead.

I disagree to some extent in that it's really the only way to replace the hormones you're missing post menopause, but appreciate that some women can't take it for whatever reason. However it's not the magic cure-all that some people think it is.

And either way, on HRT or not, none of your 40y old male boss's business!

I left a senior job that required long hours & extensive traveling, due to a horrific combination of insomnia, brain fog, anxiety that hit at the same time as my - not local - DM started suffering falls and confusion, and my teens were going through GCSEs and A levels.

What would have helped me the most was

• HRT and not antidepressants
• a manageable workload
• A review of my travel requirements for work (travel hours to have counted as working hours).
• my home working agreement honoured (I was pressured to be in the office more than agreed, which combined with traveling meant a lot of early starts.

It's great headlines, but I'm not sure labelling menopause as a disability would have helped. Nor am I convinced by the sexism arguments. HRT aside, the key things I needed should be available to both sexes and all ages.