In Western cultures, the average age of menopause is 51 years old. Menopause is one day in time between being peri-menopausal and post-menopausal. Perimenopause can begin up to 10 years before menopause and being post-menopausal is for the rest of life. Menopause can be undergone by cis women, trans and non-binary people. It can occur at any time following the start of periods, naturally or due to surgical/medical interventions. Not all women experience (peri)menopausal symptoms but according to the British Menopause Society (2021) around 80-90% of women will, and for around 25% the symptoms can be debilitating.
Perimenopausal and menopausal symptoms are wide-ranging to both physical and mental health. These can include the commonly known ones such as heavy bleeding and hot flushes but can also include joint pain, gut problems, as well as anxiety, problems with memory, ‘brain fog’ and a loss of confidence. Palpitations, recurrent UTIs, tinnitus, osteoporosis and cardiac disease can become more likely. Poor sleep can also be a symptom with implications to both physical and mental wellbeing (NHS, 2022).
Managing these symptoms has implications for retaining the workforce. Teachers for example report that the pressures, workload and high expectations associated with their professional roles are exacerbated by menopausal symptoms (Steffan and Potocnik, 2023). The DfE Menopause 2023 Survey highlights how teachers undergoing the menopause have changed their work-based habits due to menopause. These include an increased need to organise and plan, taking more time to complete their work, avoiding meetings or taking on new tasks and beginning to work flexibly. How accommodating are we as colleagues in recognising and supporting that people may need to work differently to others and perhaps to the ways they have worked in the past?
Currently, menopause is not one of the nine specific protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. However, guidance from the EHRC in February 2024 confirmed employers’ existing obligations under the Equality Act, 2010. If, because of their menopause symptoms, an employee or worker is disadvantaged and treated less favourably, this could be discrimination if related to a protected characteristic, for example: age, disability, gender reassignment or sex. Employers must carry out a risk assessment of their workplace risks to ensure that menopause and peri-menopause symptoms are not made worse by the workplace and make any necessary adjustments.
Loss of valuable management time, costly compensation awards and/or possible reputational damage are potential consequences of employment tribunals. These legal and financial considerations are clearly important, but for me, running alongside them is a moral argument. Being considerate, empathetic and supportive of colleagues in managing their symptoms alongside their professional roles and other responsibilities should be a given.
Whilst menopause symptoms can last for a number of years for some, menopause is not a life sentence from which ‘women of a certain age’ should be written off as being less effective and/ or less committed to their work. Organisations will need to follow the previously mentioned EHRC guidance and pro-actively consider ways to support employees who are going through the menopause. This includes making reasonable adjustments to the workplace.
The EHRC guidance gives examples of reasonable workplace adjustments to help in managing menopausal symptoms, but teachers for example said they would find the following adjustments helpful in managing their menopause symptoms (Steffan & Potocnik, 2023):
- Occupational health campaigns in workplaces to increase staff and management awareness of the difficulties women may face during menopause.
- Policy or guidance on the menopause.
- Working in rooms where the temperature can be effectively regulated e.g a fan, may be helpful along with a flexible dress code.
- Clean and well- resourced toilet and changing facilities.
- The availability of reflexive cover for classes e.g. in case teachers need to go to the toilet urgently due to sudden bleeding for example.
- Providing access to drinking water
Promoting flexible working (e.g. adjusting start times or allowing employees to work from home, where appropriate) is an important consideration that does not always require contractual change or permanency. With the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023 coming into effect on 6th April, 2024, all workers are now entitled to request to work flexibly from the first day of employment. With the introduction of this Act, the previous onus on employees to explain how a flexible working request may work has been removed. Instead, employers will be the ones with this responsibility.
Working flexibly e.g. starting work later in the mornings might be particularly helpful if employees are not sleeping well as part of their menopause transition. Supporting requests for flexible working may enable employees to remain in the workforce rather than feeling they have to leave because their current working arrangements are not enabling them to manage their menopausal symptoms. It may help them to not be part of the ten percent who leave because they struggle to manage their symptoms alongside working.
This guidance from EHRC (2024) is a useful starting point but what is appropriate, will depend on an individual’s circumstances as menopause can affect women differently. Embedding a culture of wellbeing where managers are equipped to have open conversations with employees who are supported to feel safe to ask for reasonable adjustments seems critical.
Finally, indulge me for a moment in a little pondering: are empathetic workplaces, where employees are supported in managing their menopausal symptoms likely to be indicators of how well institutions support all their employees in navigating their lives alongside their professional roles? I don’t know the answer to this question, but I would suggest there is a lot to lose by not trying.
- This blog is a short version of an article that appeared in the Capita, DfE-sponsored Flexible Working Support Programme
Dr Suzanne Brown in a senior lecturer in the SIoE
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