It's time to take menopause seriously in the workplace​ - Rachel Weiss

Right now, within your workplace, highly skilled, experienced colleagues are struggling with symptoms of menopause.

Depending on your sector, culture and the breakdown of roles, we’re potentially talking about half or more of your workplace.

Because of debilitating symptoms like hot flushes and poor concentration, some days your colleagues may sometimes struggle to work, often citing stress or depression as the reason, or a common cold.

Staff may sometimes struggle to work due to debilitating symptoms (Picture: stock.adobe.com)

Indeed, CIPD research (November 2023) found that, if unable to work, 49 per cent of employees never tell their manager their symptoms are related to the menopause. The same research found that two-thirds (67 per cent) of employers said there is no support available.

Because of the stigma and shame, this significant percentage of your team feels unable to cite the real reasons and ask for support, seeing no alternative but to go part-time, avoid promotions or, worse still, leave the job they love. When they downgrade or even abandon their careers, the gender pay and pension gaps widen. I think we’d all agree that’s in no-one’s interests.

So, after celebrtating World Menopause Day last Friday, isn’t it time we took a more proactive stance around menopause at work?

First of all, why does this deep-rooted stigma and embarrassment remain around what is an inevitable and usually natural life transition?

Rachel Weiss, Founder Menopause Café (Picture: Christopher Young)

We, at Menopause Café charity, think it’s twofold. Firstly, there’s still engrained misogyny around women’s reproductive issues like puberty and menstruation. Secondly, there’s gendered ageism. Employees fear that speaking out is an admission that they’re getting old, and that’s not generally celebrated. They’re scared it makes them look weak, less able to do the job or to bag that promotion.

So what can you do?

By creating a culture where you really listen and provide a platform for those already navigating these challenges, you can build organisational best practice.

Through appropriate support, you can help people feel included, offer dignity and reduce embarrassment. In turn, you will increase employee attendance and legitimise absence where needed, improving performance, engagement and retention.

Employers can also host Menopause Cafés, giving colleagues a chance to get together at or outside work. Last year, facilitated by our charity, over 360 pop-up cafes were held across the world, from the UK and USA to Chile, Zambia, Bahrain and Portugal, empowering more than 3,600 participants to get talking menopause.

By making the recently launched Menopause Awareness Ribbon available within your workplaces, employers can also encourage people of all ages and genders to start conversations about menopause.

But, as well as welcoming and facilitating discussion, we must also embrace diversity.

By the time women experience menopause, they have amassed a wealth of personal and professional experience and expertise. Yes, a 20-year-old woman might learn something faster, but post-menopausal employees have wisdom. If we really value equality and inclusivity, let’s pair up the age stages, mix older people with apprentices, develop the female workforce, and retain and value diversity that will otherwise be lost.

We should also remember the positives of menopause. While menopause can be brutal, many sail through it or even celebrate it. If we only ever talk about the bad bits, there's a real danger of worsening the discrimination against older women, so let’s balance the topic through everyday conversation.

There is no doubt that we’re talking about it more, but employers, let's remember to listen, and turn that conversation into action.

Rachel Weiss, Founder Menopause Café