The Menopause-friendly Workplace: Business Is Finally Waking up to Women’s Healthcare Issues

Source: rocket50

By: Janet Peischel rocket50 Contributor          

Date: May 31, 2023

A few weeks ago I wrote an article about menopause and hormone replacement therapy (HRT)--how we could have been taking this all along, rather than suffering disruptive symptoms of menopause for the last 25 years. According to a study that came out in the early 90s, HRT was related to heart disease and other serious conditions, and our doctors stopped prescribing it. 
So we suffered in relative silence, because here in the west-- the US, the UK, Canada and Australia--menopause is perceived as a time to dread that we navigate in silence. It’s shocking that a full third of women don’t feel like they can discuss their symptoms with their healthcare providers. For millions of women, it’s a time when work, home life, and everyday activities become unpredictable minefields.

Business is starting to wake up to women’s healthcare issues

A few weeks after I wrote about HRT, I read an article in The New York Times about how businesses are finally starting to hear us. They realize that women are an important part of their workforce, and if menopause is affecting their work, maybe they should be doing something about it.  In research into the effect of menopause on working women, Vodafone found that 50% of women don’t feel they can talk about their symptoms, even though 62% of them felt it was affecting their work. Meetings with hot flashes, unexpected crying jags, bloating and discomfort. This is all compromising an important resource—women.
Managers at Nvidia, a global computer graphics company, began hearing about a new kind of complaint: Their female employees were struggling with hot flashes, fatigue and brain fog–and their regular doctors weren’t offering guidance or relief. Clearly, this is a very forward-thinking company whose healthcare benefits include fertility support, egg freezing and surrogacy and adoption support. What’s missing? Support for women with perimenopause and menopause. Even talking about it was taboo, and for women who start with perimenopause in their thirties, this can conceivably go on for 20 years. 
Small things like allowing an employee to take a short break when symptoms flare can help. In the case of perimenopause, women may not even know what is causing their symptoms, believing that they’re way too young to be dealing with menopause-related symptoms. This is just not something that we talk to our doctors about.

In the UK: Who will win the most menopause-friendly workplace sweepstakes?

A new movement to create “menopause-friendly workplaces” is catching on, beginning in Britain, where menopausal women are believed to be the fastest-growing workforce demographic.
There are now more than 50 British organizations, including HSBC UK, Unilever UK, and the soccer club West Ham United, that are now certified as “menopause-friendly”. One poll estimated that three in ten workplaces in Britain now have some kind of menopause policy in place and companies vie for the award for the most menopause-friendly workplace. 
These changes roll up to the British Parliament, which has held hearings and is now calling for such policies. There is consciousness-raising and training about menopause symptoms. Businesses are making physical accommodations like desk fans; where employees wear uniforms, they’re making modifications and creating more flexible schedules. 
If I were in the U.K. and suffering with acute hot flashes, I could have this honest conversation with my manager about what I need in the event of a flare-up or if I need to take a moment for myself. We don’t have that in the U.S. I can’t imagine having this kind of discussion with my manager—even if that manager is a woman. It would make me feel as if I were admitting weakness and asking for special accommodation. That’s how I’ve been conditioned. 

New menopause policies are arriving in the US 

New York City Mayor Eric Adams promised earlier this year “to change the stigma around menopause in this city,” and to “create more menopause-friendly workplaces for our city workers through improving policies and our buildings.” During his remarks in January, Mr. Adams recalled how his mother’s insomnia during menopause made it difficult for her do her job as a line cook, and this was instrumental in his pledge for reform.

Follow the money: Women as a valued part of the workforce

Smart employers get it. Reduced productivity and turnover are expensive. Retaining experienced, valuable women employees is good business. A 2021 survey by the Mayo Clinic estimated that about 10 percent of women ages 45 to 60 had taken time off in the last year in the United States because of menopause symptoms, costing employers about $1.8 billion. 
Female leaders and celebrities — including Oprah and Michelle Obama — are increasingly bringing what Oprah calls “the Big M” into the cultural conversation. The Gen X-ers have grown up; they are now in their 40s and 50s, and they’re now more willing to talk about their menopause experiences and request support. 

So how do we effect change? It’s going to take top-down driven support

The first step to a menopause-friendly workplace is to provide education to reduce the stigma, said Deborah Garlick, the founder of Henpicked: Menopause in the Workplace. “This can mean posting information on company websites and training employees and managers, regardless of gender. It also helps to appoint ‘menopause champions’ — employees willing to talk about menopause and help women find support--the higher they are in the company’s ranks, the better.” 
The employers who do best are those who ask their colleagues, “What’s getting in the way of your being your best at work and what can we do to help?” Reasonable adjustments are usually small things that can be implemented over a period of time. 

Menopause symptoms can sabotage careers

Believe it or not, there are an estimated 34 documented menopause symptoms; they often surface just as women are rising to higher levels at work. This further complicates the hurdles of ageism and sexism that women are already facing as they age in the workforce. What woman who is successfully climbing the corporate ladder wants to be complaining about her menopause symptoms? 
Divulging symptoms: We don’t need another reason for discrimination
Disclosing menopause symptoms carries risk, because it could play into assumptions that women are less productive at work as they age. A better methodology might be to start slowly, folding menopause assistance into existing workplace resources, like introducing a cool room, said Dr. Stephanie Faubion, medical director of the North American Menopause Society. “We don’t need another reason for workplace discrimination against older women or to handicap them in some way by saying there’s something wrong with them at menopause that requires special accommodation.”
Nvidia, which has about 13,000 employees in the U.S, began offering access to Peppy Health—a virtual medical care through an app. Bristol Myers Squibb, the New York-based global pharmaceutical company, is in the early stages of setting up menopause support for its U.S.-based employees. Its British subsidiary, which allows employees to develop tailored symptom-management plans, was named Menopause-Friendly Employer of the Year in 2022.

A long way to go, and women will suffer humiliation and age discrimination

It wasn’t all that long ago that women started demanding lactation centers in the workplace. While these are far from universal, there are now companies that specialize in installing these in offices. Lactation centers may get smirks from employees, and there are still those who roll their eyes, but they’re going a long way toward helping women care for their newborn babies and return to work. 
Medical practitioners recommend that women breastfeed their babies for six months, but many women can’t meet this threshold due to lack of support from their employers. It can be difficult to be late for meetings because your milk is leaking. If you’re expected to travel, canceling trips because of your pumping schedule can be difficult to explain to a sexist boss. 

What’s key to workplace change? 

Find men with strong wives who have made sure their husbands understand how life-affecting menopause symptoms can be and how even small adjustments and a little understanding can make a difference. This is where change is going to happen. 
And while our individual menopause experiences are unique, our collective experience can be improved if we work towards a culture that celebrates the wisdom that comes with aging as we embrace this next stage of our lives.

 
Janet Peischel is a rocket50 writer and the owner of “Being Top of Mind” marketing consultancy. She writes about  lifestyle issues, products and trends of the  50+ population. “We represent a huge market that’s vocal, active, and determined to stay active and involved!”

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