Menopause in the workplace is, thankfully, finally a real talking point. And according to Menopause Friendly, women of menopause age are the fastest growing demographic in the workplace.
Despite this though, 90% of workplaces have no formal support in place for women experiencing menopause symptoms.
The Menopause Friendly Accreditation Scheme seeks to change that, so let’s look into why it matters and whether your organisation should be a part of it.
Why we need to support women going through menopause
The reality is that in an equally gender split workforce, half of your employees are going to experience menopause at some point and this is a huge deal both physically and mentally.
Symptoms include:
- Anxiety
- Low mood
- Difficulty sleeping and, in turn, fatigue
- Headaches or migraines
- Hot flushes (which can be extreme)
- Palpitations
- Joint stiffness, aches and pains
- Loss of confidence
- Memory issues
- Tinnitus
And this list isn’t even exhaustive.
In other words, the women in your business who are experiencing menopause could potentially be emotionally and physically unwell frequently.
Being supportive comes in many forms. And the Menopause Friendly Accreditation seeks to help organisations to become truly menopause friendly.
What does “Menopause Friendly” mean?
Achieving the accreditation requires meeting certain criteria such as:
- Putting in place clear support for menopausal women
- Making menopause something easy to talk about
As an example, Huddersfield Town became the first football club to achieve the accreditation on the basis of having clear policies in place, support for women and putting in place training for staff on understanding menopause.
Would it benefit your organisation?
Women of menopause age is the fastest growing demographic in the workplace. So it’s vital that employers understand the challenges they face.
Benefits of seeking accreditation include:
- Appealing as an employer to women of menopause age – a demographic that typically already has experience and track record of work. This can help with recruitment
- Helping all members of staff within your business to understand the impact of menopause on their colleages which can help to reduce feelings of discontent if a colleague is absent or working in an adapted manner to accommodate symptoms
So if you’re a business employing people then there are certainly benefits to seeking accreditation.
But even if you don’t seek accreditation, becoming more menopause aware and putting in place policies to support women experiencing menopause would put you a step ahead of the vast majority of employers.
