Menopause is a biological phase that affects women and all people who menstruate. Even though it is a natural phenomenon, it is surrounded by stigma and rarely discussed. When a woman stops having periods and can no longer get pregnant naturally, it is called menopause. The average age for menopause is forty-five to fifty-five years. And many women going through menopause are likely to experience severe symptoms that impact their quality of life.
Understanding Menopause & its symptoms
After women attain a certain age, the estrogen level in women begin to fall, and eventually, the body reaches menopause. A woman reaches menopause when she has gone 12 months without a menstrual period. But, the symptoms of menopause may begin months or even years before she reaches menopause.
Some of the common symptoms of menopause are listed below –
- Hot Flashes are sudden, short waves of heat concentrated around the face, neck, and chest. The skin may also become red and sweaty in this case.
- Irregular Periods – Periods become irregular, and the flow may get lighter or very heavy.
- Night Sweats
- Sleeplessness or Insomnia
- Migraines or Headaches
- Reduced Libido
- Weight Gain
- Mood Swings – Many women experience low moods, anger, or anxiety
- Joint Stiffness
- Brain Fog – Lack of concentration and memory problems.
Some women opt for medication for managing menopause in the workplace. Severe or debilitating symptoms of menopause are treated with Hormone Replacement Therapy or HRT treatment. The HRT therapy helps balance the declining estrogen in a person’s body by supplying a synthetic form of estrogen or a combination of estrogen and progesterone. Some common forms of HRT are –
- Estrogen Pill
- Estrogen Patch
- Topical Estrogen
- Vaginal Estrogen
Facts & laws about Menopause
Menopause symptoms can be debilitating and may negatively impact work performance. Some women reported difficulty concentrating, tiredness, poor memory, feeling low and depressed, and low confidence. Here’s what the UK law says about menopause –
- Menopause is covered indirectly under the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 – which governs safe working practices.
- The Equality Act 2010 protects three characteristics – age, sex, and disabilities, broadly covering menopause.
- If someone were to be discriminated against or treated unfairly due to their menopausal symptoms – it would be punishable by law.
Menopause and the workplace
Menopause is not just a gender issue or an individual medical condition; in its severity, it may impact spouses, children, colleagues, and friends. It pressurizes relationships, and therefore, menopausal women need support at home and in the workplace. Employers should find new ways to support these women, who have spent many years in the industry and hold valuable experience and expertise. Recognize where support is needed and facilitate open conversations about menopause. Women need to feel comfortable talking about it with their line managers and colleagues.
So how can employers support their female employees going through menopause?
Krishma Patel is the co-founder and the Superintendent Pharmacist at MedsNow, an online pharmacy in the UK that provides health and wellness products and treatments along with free online consultations.
Krishma explains the first step towards supporting women going through menopause is to remove the stigma surrounding it and help women be more comfortable to talk about their needs. Treat menopause with the same support and compassion that you would treat any other health concerns that affect your staff. Here are some things that employers should do –
- Start a conversation – Give women the option of speaking to someone other than their manager about menopause at work. Make your female employees aware that there is help and support available for them if they need it.
- Support frameworks & resources – Create a support framework for women, managers, and male colleagues. Hold awareness training sessions to guide everyone to do the right thing and support their female teammates.
- Find practical solutions & be flexible – Practical solutions that make menopausal women more comfortable at work are not so difficult to find. Think about factors like the air-conditioning, the opportunity to take a break, and the freedom to work from home to create a flexible and comfortable environment.
- Develop Menopause policies – Re-think your company policies to include clauses that help women going through menopause.
- Align leadership initiatives – If you want to break down the stigma and start an honest conversation about menopause in the workplace, begin with the leadership. Before you start to take any initiative in this regard, get your leadership team on board.
- Managing sickness, absence & job performance – Create flexible policies that allow menopausal women to control their sick leaves and absences without affecting their job performance.
- Carrying out health & safety checks – Regular health check-ups of your employees will be helpful not just to women going through menopause but to everyone.
- Training managers – Conduct awareness training to break the taboo and enable managers to talk to female employees, understand their problems, and offer support wherever possible.
The answer lies in normalizing the phenomenon of menopause and in accepting that it is a natural process that all women go through. If all your employees are aware of the symptoms, struggles, and health risks of menopause – they can also support each other during this time.
