Jayne Woodman
Menopause And Employment
In April, Jayne Woodman from The Menopause Team – ABOUT — The Menopause Team gave the MenoPals Sully group an informative talk about managing Menopause in the workplace.
There are one billion Menopausal women in the World, and thirteen million in the UK alone, and the fastest growing segment of the UK workforce is women of Menopausal age.The Pension age has increased, meaning many women are working much longer, and financially have no option but to keep going through this often difficult period.
49% of women currently do not want to speak to their employer about their Menopause, 30% of women are thinking of leaving work, and10% are actually leaving.
1 in 5 reduce their hours, and 1 in 5 don’t seek a deserved promotion.
41% of universities do not teach anything about the Menopause, so there is a general deficit in knowledge about this subject.
Jayne had some encouraging news, this year, all GPs will finally get appropriate training on the Menopause.
This cannot come quick enough, as currently 7% of women are on their 10th GP visit, with still no mention of the Menopause despite having an array of symptoms that point to it.
Jayne suggested women look into two major pieces of legislation, Health and Safety & Welfare, and the Equality Act 2010 to find out more about their employer’s responsibility for our health and welfare. She also talked about the Equality & Human Rights Commission ( EHRC) – Menopause related absences should now be treated differently, and recorded separately, much as maternity sickness would be.
Menopause absences cannot trigger negative disciplinary action, and from the 6th April onwards, flexible working can be requested from day 1 in a new job.
If someone is off with debilitating symptoms due to their Menopause, one absence is recorded, regardless of how many days sick they accrue for that issue.
Reasonable adjustments must be considered that are agreed by both the employer and the employee, to make the working environment as comfortable as possible for Menopausal women.
The talk was incredibly well-received by everyone present, and there was time for a thorough Q&A session afterwards.
At Home Instead Cardiff, Penarth and Barry we take women’s menopausal experiences seriously.
We sponsor MenoPals Sully and Rhiwbina so our Care Professionals and the wider community can get face to face support.
We also offer monthly online support for our staff.
If you would like a career where your support is just important as that given to our clients, click here to find out more – Cardiff North – Recruitment (homeinstead.co.uk) or Penarth and Barry – Recruitment (homeinstead.co.uk)