Menopause and the workplace

Data shows that employment rates for women in the UK are increasing over time. While women’s labour force participation differs from men’s labour force participation, forward thinking companies are trying to build working conditions that support more women to contribute more to their organisational mission. Part of this involves being engaged and responsive to women’s health issues. 

Menopause is one of these issues. Menopause is when periods have stopped for 12 months due to lower hormone levels. Perimenopause is the period leading up to menopause. Based on a CIPD survey of over 2000 women, over 80% of UK working women aged 40-60 experience symptoms related to menopause.  

Symptoms of perimenopause and menopause can vary widely. They can range from irregular periods to fluctuations in mood to hot flushes. Symptoms can be ongoing for years. One of the challenges of supporting women experiencing these symptoms is ensuring that they relate to the menopause process and not to any other changes in health. This is one reason why it is always important for women to present to a healthcare professional with any new symptoms. 

Why is menopause relevant at work?

1. Menopause symptoms can impact workplace function 

   
   

The most common perimenopause/ menopause symptoms reported by women in the CIPD survey were changes in mental state, hot flushes and sleep disturbance. These symptoms were all experienced by around two thirds of respondents, with a similar proportion describing the symptoms as having a mostly negative effect on them at work. Of those negatively affected by menopause symptoms at work, 70% experienced concentration difficulties and 35% made more mistakes at work. Both these proportions and consequences are significant. 

2. There are often workplace adaptations that can help 

   
   

Examples of good practice range from access to drinking water and temperature control at work to adjustments around flexible working and breaks. Around 25% of women surveyed by the CIPD said their workplace has a menopause policy, but within these the offerings varied widely. Less than ⅓ of organisations with a menopause policy offered specified support through an occupational health offering. 

3. Women may not want to discuss their health issues at work 

   
   

While over 50% of women surveyed by the CIPD reported a time when they had to take sickness absence due to menopause symptoms, the majority of these did not tell their manager that their sickness absence related to the menopause. Reasons behind this included concern around lack of support. 

This is a key point. There are workers with symptoms of menopause impacting their ability to work to the extent they require time off work. But these individuals are unable to articulate this to their manager. This is relevant as there could be potential solutions to support these women and maintain their productivity that are not being explored. 

Where does occupational health come in?

Whatever an individual's health issue they may not wish to share it with their employer, manager or colleagues. Menopause is no different. One helpful aspect of occupational health is the ability to signpost colleagues to a confidential clinical service for support, helping separate personal medical information and health from workplace colleagues. 

Occupational health ensures employees get the clinical support they need. Sometimes this means signposting to menopause treatment but it can also mean signposting to investigations to rule out other causes of symptoms. 

Finally, occupational health provides evidence based recommendations to managers about adaptations that help women experiencing menopause better manage their relationship between work and health. For some women this may be relocating to a part of the office where temperature control is easier to manage. For others, this may mean the option for some flexibility to start the working day from home where hot flushes have caused significant sleep disruption over night. Symptoms and their impact vary so widely that bespoke support can be very helpful. 

Organisations should lean on occupational health expertise when it comes to menopause policies, manager and employee training. But while policies and education are better than nothing, they rarely provide an end to end work and health solution for a diverse workforce. The hallmarks of an effective work and health offering for menopause, just as for any other presentation, involves personalised confidential and clinical expertise. 

Case study: 

Ms J is a 50 year old finance director. She has been visibly tearful at work and has not been able to conduct time critical team meetings in the past few months, consistently asking to reschedule. 

Ms J’s manager is concerned about her as well as the impact the change in her function is having on the organisation. He has asked her for more information about what she is experiencing but she has not come forward with any information. He suggests an occupational health referral which she agrees to. 

In the occupational health consultation, Ms J discloses that her menstrual periods stopped 12 months ago and since then she has experienced a worsening in hot flushes at night. She has to get up multiple times at night to change her clothes and bedding and this is contributing to feeling exhausted. Her energy levels and concentration are particularly poor in the mornings. She finds she ‘zones out’ at work as a result, and has not felt well enough to attend morning meetings, often catching up with asynchronous work later in the day and working late as a result.

Ms J informs the occupational health clinician that she has completed full investigations with her GP. She has been offered hormone replacement therapy treatment but she does not want to pursue this at this time. 

With Ms J’s consent the occupational health clinician writes to her manager. No personal or health information is included in the report, just the recommendation that her hours are shifted to a later start, and meetings are scheduled in the afternoon (when her concentration is best). Once these changes are implemented, Ms J finds she can function much better at work and keep up with the requirements of the role. There are no further concerns from her manager. 

Key points 

• Ms J had a clear understanding of her health and what would help her but did not want to communicate this to her manager directly. Occupational health helped bridge this gap. 

• Ms J had good support from her GP in diagnosis and management of her symptoms but what she needed at this stage was support with workplace accommodations.

• With support of occupational health, this situation is better managed for Ms J and the organisation. 

Every woman’s experience of menopause is different. Occupational health offers confidential, tailored support to keep employees thriving at work. Contact us to learn more