World Menopause Day is held every year on the 18th of October. The purpose of the day is to raise awareness of menopause and the support options available for improving health and wellbeing.
How can you support employees experiencing menopause?
Support and encourage
Promote a supportive environment so your employees feel able to talk openly and comfortably about matters related to menopause. Handle their concerns respectfully and confidentially.
Include
Many people can experience menopause symptoms including transgender and gender non-conforming people, so ensure that you support all your employees who need help.
Inform
Tell your employees who can help them. That may include HR, menopause or wellbeing champions, or employee assistance programmes. Maintain a hub of useful and informative resources for employees on your Intranet.
Help
When an employee tells you that they are experiencing menopause symptoms that are impacting their work, discuss how you can help. That may include:
Temperature and ventilation control.
Access to suitable rest facilities.
Alternative uniform options.
Flexible working.
Changes to work allocation.
Arrange counselling.
Consider
Consider the impact of other HR policies on menopause at work including:
Sickness absence.
Performance management.
Flexible working.
Stress at work and mental health policies..
Train
Train line managers, HR and wellbeing champions:
to understand the symptoms of menopause and how it can affect employees
to approach conversations about menopause sensitively
to understand the support that is available to employees experiencing the menopause
to understand their role when it comes to offering support.