Have you signed the menopause workplace pledge?

Have you or your organisation signed the menopause workplace pledge?

The Government Equalities Office recently published a response to a series of recommendations from a roundtable that was formed to investigate actions from the Minister of Employment on how best to mitigate against some of the impact of the menopause in the economy. In the response the Government has laid down their views on the actions that were put to them by the roundtable.

This response has come from an original report that was produced on the economic factors that are impacted by menopause in the workforce, that then led to the formation of the UK Menopause Taskforce.

This original report showed how Menopausal women are a growing and significant demographic in the workplace with up to 47% of the UK workforce experiencing menopause transition during their working lives. Many of them may struggle to manage the psychological and physiological changes their bodies are going through and a quarter are likely to experience debilitating symptoms. 

This has huge potential consequences for mid-life women’s quality of working life and performance at work with negative effects that can include:

• Reduced engagement with work 
• Reduced job satisfaction 
• Reduced commitment to the organisation 
• Reduced emotional resilience
• Higher sickness absence 
• An increased desire to leave work altogether. 

Understanding and supporting women as they transition towards and through the menopause is potentially one of the most vital contributions to workplace wellbeing and retention that an organisation can make. 

The report also shows how a varied and personalised approach to supporting women in the workplace is vital for success.

“It recommends changing organisational cultures; compulsory equality and diversity training; providing specialist advice; tailored absence policies; flexible working patterns for mid-life women; and fairly low cost environmental changes. The overall emphasis is on a variety of approaches to menopause transition at work, to cater for women’s differing experiences.”

A personalised approach to menopause support

We wholeheartedly endorse this personalised approach to menopause support and to any steps, large or small, taken by individuals and organisations to advance the support of wellbeing in the workplace.

Which is why we are so delighted and excited to be signatories to the wellbeing pledge – a recent initiative by the organisation wellbeing for women.  

Sign the Menopause Workplace Pledge

Even more importantly than feeling like we are playing our own small part is the presence of so many large organisations as supporters and signatories on the list. Seeing organisations like the NHS not only signing the pledge but introducing internal policies, guidance and resources for managers to better support staff experiencing the menopause represents a big step forward both in terms of the availability of support and normalising the conversation around menopause in the workplace.

> Sign the Menopause Workplace Pledge today