More and more women are joining the UK workforce every year, and, due to ongoing shifts in the age at which workers are eligible for state pension, women also have longer working lives than ever before.
However, while every workplace has to recognise and act upon the legal rights of women in pregnancy, another issue exists that is unique to women – one that seems to be very regularly overlooked. The menopause is a seldom-discussed workplace matter, and yet it’s something that affects hundreds of thousands of women every year.
Forth With Life, the biomarker tracking service, recently undertook a study of one thousand women based around the UK, all over 45 years of age and all currently in either full time or part time work.
77% of the women surveyed had already gone through the menopause, or were currently experiencing it. Just under two thirds of those respondents admitted that the symptoms they experienced made work much harder for them.
The survey respondents experienced typical menopause symptoms to varying degrees. The most common issue was hot flashes, which affected 73% of the sample group. The next was drowsiness or exhaustion, with which 63% struggled. 48% reported low mood, 47% found it difficult to concentrate and 43% had issues with their memory.
Only 6% said that they didn’t experience any symptoms of the menopause at all while working.
As a result of the menopause symptoms they experienced, just over a third found themselves struggling with depression and anxiety, while 29% developed low self-confidence.
Over half (58%) of respondents said they were still experiencing symptoms of the menopause, and this continued to affect their work. 41% admitted that those symptoms were causing them to make mistakes at work. Around 40% mentioned that the menopause had caused them to lose interest in their job.
The study showed that menopause can occasionally have a dramatic and profound effect on a person’s career. 11% of the women that were surveyed said that their lack of self-confidence, which had developed as a result of their symptoms, prevented them from putting themselves forward for promotion. Still more worryingly, perhaps, 8% believed that menopause is likely to have contributed to their decision to leave their job
Of course, menopause symptoms are difficult to manage day in and day out. As a result of this, many women feel forced to take days off work. 24% of those questioned said that they had taken a sick day because they were suffering from these symptoms. Almost half of those who did so said they called in on multiple occasions.
The national average of menopausal women who have called in sick to work more than once stands at 11%. When examined by region, it’s apparent that women in Yorkshire aged 45 and over took the highest number of days off work because of the menopause – with 20% doing so more than once. Northern Ireland saw the largest proportion of women calling in sick just once – 37% claim to have done so, while the national average stands at 13%.
With symptoms of the menopause causing this level of upheaval to women’s working lives, it might seem sensible for organisations to have policies in place offering support. However, astonishingly, 90% of the women who responded to the survey said that their employer had no support in place whatsoever for women going through the menopause.
Of the 10% that did offer support, 5% provided it in the form of free advice, or a “menopausal club”. 3% had policies in place regarding menopausal employees, while another 3% offered training in psychological and physical well-being to line managers, allowing them to help staff members who were struggling.
When asked how they found out about the help that was available, 28% of respondents said that one of their superiors had told them about it. Another 28% said that the information was published in the company’s employee handbook, while 18% explained that they found details of support on their organisation’s intranet and 12% said that the information was shared via a workplace newsletter. By contrast, 32% were told about it by female coworkers.
Only 15% of the women who took part in the new survey mentioned that they spoke to their superior or manager about their symptoms and the problems they were having. Regionally, women from Northern Ireland were more likely to have a discussion with their manager, with 37% choosing to do so. By contrast, 90% of women in the South West did not speak to any superior about their issues.
Overall, 7% of respondents said that they were offered help and that help was provided when required. 5% reported that help was offered but not provided. A considerable number – 82% in total – said that their work offered no support whatsoever.
Almost three quarters of the women in the sample group believed that their employers needed to do more to support women experiencing symptoms of the menopause.
Sarah Bolt, Forth With Life founder, commented on the findings: “The purpose of this study was to determine how significantly, and in what ways, women in employment are affected by symptoms of the menopause, and what policies and procedures are currently in place within organisations to provide help and support for matters of this kind.
“It’s quite shocking to see the lack of support women get at work and our study highlights how urgent it is for UK employers to improve their policies and offer help that is much needed.”
Deborah Garlick, from Henpicked: Menopause In The Workplace, added: “We hear experiences from women every day who want to be at their best at work but menopause symptoms get in the way. They are not feeling able to give the performance they want,, may take time off, don’t go career progression or worse still leave altogether.
“The fact is they need help and support from their bosses and it’s often small things that make a big difference or for a short period of time. Employers can play a huge part in this. Inspirational organisations like Network Rail, Severn Trent, University of Leicester and the Sherwood Forest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust launched policies, awareness and education. Seeing outstanding results, benefiting colleagues and the organisation.
“This is not a women’s issue, everyone needs to be able to talk about menopause and women need to feel comfortable asking for help if they need it. The easier and more normal we make it to talk about menopause, the better it is for everyone.”
Comment and advice from employment lawyer:
