Only a few years ago, menopause in the workplace was a complete taboo that was not discussed, let alone seen as a workplace issue. And while the subject matter is now a common point of discussion, with guidelines and policies part and parcel of organisational strategies, and a growing industry of pharmaceuticals, supplements, alternative medicine and accreditations, this does not mean changes in the workplace have happened everywhere or for everybody. Many experiencing menopause transition still feel unsupported and insecure in what they can or should ask for in their organisation.
Menopause is still an under-researched subject and often ignored in policy and organisational contexts, although trade unions played a historical role in the emergent literature on the subject. Given the difference that a trade union presence can make in workplaces, it is interesting to consider the effect that shop stewards working in a public sector organisation can have by including menopause issues in the organisational health and wellbeing provision. The public sector organisation I researched originally took a confrontational approach to high sickness absence rates among older female workers and identified this as a significant workforce problem. Menopause was not identified as a reason for sickness absence, possibly due to its not being considered by management and/or because individuals did not want to disclose their situation. The list of sickness absence reasons identified by the organisation did, however, include many that could be symptoms of the menopause, including stress, anxiety, depression; musculoskeletal; planned surgery, clinical tests, treatment; stomach and metabolic problems; headache and migraine; and back problems.
The ‘usual’ menopause policy- or guidelines-based approach was rejected by shop stewards as not appropriate or helpful because they did not see how this would make a difference to their workforce. Instead, they opted for health and wellbeing measures and related information provision as an alternative means of addressing the issue. Their menopause action plan, signed off in December 2018, was implemented by two trade union representatives (Unison/Unite) and the Wellbeing Manager from January 2019 onwards. Concretely, the action plan involved: menopause being listed on the health and wellbeing plan that staff complete annually with their line manager; menopause added to a pre-existing list of issues to raise (if appropriate) during health and wellbeing reviews; talking groups; menopause webpage/intranet and information leaflets; e-training for managers and employees; menopause-friendly temperature areas; and online yoga sessions. The aim of these efforts was to change the organisational culture by acknowledging and supporting the needs of employees, including those experiencing menopause transition. In taking this approach, the council identified menopause as an issue that did not only affect certain groups of workers but as one that had an impact on the workforce as a whole. In turn, the action plan had the potential to improve employment conditions for all workers.
To explore the effectiveness of this approach, informal conversations with the two trade union representatives and the Wellbeing Manager who implemented the menopause action plan were conducted, and two surveys were sent out to all employees. The initial survey was conducted in 2019 as the action plan was being implemented, and aimed to assess how staff viewed their knowledge about menopause and what implications menopause had for their work and health. A slightly amended survey was run in 2021 to establish what change had occurred and the effects of the menopause action plan.
The proportion of respondents stating that their workplace provided information about the menopause increased considerably from 20.1 per cent in the first survey to 63.6 per cent in the second. Correspondingly, those indicating that no such information was available at work decreased from 51.9 per cent to 19.6 per cent. The proportion of those who were unsure also decreased, from 28 per cent to 16.8 per cent. Given the availability of this information, the question of whether respondents wanted this information to be provided at work mainly acted as a confirmation that this is the right approach. 85.3 per cent in the first survey and 84.5 per cent in the second stated that they wanted this information to be provided at work.
The small proportion (14.7 per cent and 15.5 per cent in the first and second surveys respectively) who did not want information on the menopause to be provided at work offered a range of reasons for this, most of which are well established in the menopause literature, including that sufficient information is already available and/or that it can be found elsewhere, or that the workplace is not the right place for this personal issue. Worryingly, however, individuals also rejected information provision because they identified the workplace as ageist, and that the stigma associated with old age means that any information or discussion of menopause would lead to ridicule.
Overall, there is a trend towards respondents’ feeling more knowledgeable about menopause in the second survey compared to the first. Despite this, the experience of talking about menopause with other people at work is still mixed. The increased knowledge and awareness of menopause seems to have also increased both positive and negative experiences of talking about menopause at work, including menopause being joked about. Above all, it is clear that menopause is usually only talked about among women and/or with close work colleagues in private conversations. Respondents also identified (line) managers as being crucial to changing the situation and suggested that the training available should be made mandatory to ensure that menopause discussions are more common and available to everyone.
Conclusions about the effectiveness of menopause’s inclusion in a health and wellbeing plan for absence levels are complicated by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting increase of home and flexible working. The organisation I studied did see a dramatic decrease in sickness absence between July 2020 and April 2021, though it is not possible to link this directly to the health and wellbeing action plan. The findings show some improvements for menopausal women in this particular workplace, while also identifying the need for further advances, e.g. in relation to managers. In light of the pressure from the organisation around absence, it could be that leave days may be taken instead of sick days. It is therefore important to consider the broader interrelationship between menopause and sickness leave and absence, particularly in light of the recent government refusal to support a ‘menopause leave’ trial because it was not seen as ‘necessary’ and [was] potentially ‘counterproductive’. Despite such a negative national approach, the findings from my research suggest that alternative responses to the ‘sickness absence problem’ can potentially lead to broader organisational change and improvements in working conditions overall, not ‘just’ for those experiencing menopause transition.
Vanessa Beck is Professor in Employment Studies at the University of Bristol.
Image credit Hakeem James Hausley via Pexels