What can employers do?
Our research clearly identified the actions employers should take to support menopausal women:
Although some actions are specific to the needs of menopausal women, most will help to support the wellbeing of all workers, regardless of their age and gender, by creating a more open, diverse and inclusive workplace.
1. Culture, education and awareness
A clear message from the research is that the menopause is where the discussion on mental health was ten years ago in the financial sector. Just as employers have with mental health, we need to break the stigma of menopause through open conversations, training and awareness campaigns. Men and women suggested these need to be part of existing D&I and wellbeing efforts so they are viewed by employees as another element of inclusion and wellbeing in the workplace, rather than a separate issue that only affects women.
Six key areas for action are recommended:
2. Flexibility and working arrangements
As most office-based staff already have access to some degree of flexible work, in order to support menopausal women and trans men employers can not only continue to improve the flexibility on offer, but also communicate to employees that the menopause is an acceptable reason to work flexibly. For roles such as those in retail bank branches, with fixed schedules, more consideration may be needed in how to support individual employees to work a schedule that suits their needs, as would be done for disabled employees, or those with caring responsibilities.
Participants suggested five forms of flexibility that support menopausal women in the workplace:
3. The workplace environment
In the survey and focus groups, women suggested practical, simple changes to the working environment that would be helpful for managing their symptoms.
Women suggested five things that firms could do to make the workplace environment more menopause-friendly: