WM People launches menopause toolkit

Read about National Older Workers Week

WM People has published an employer’s toolkit on the menopause at work.

The toolkit includes the business case for supporting women going through the menopause at work, case studies and examples of best practice.

Employers highlighted include Metro Bank and Next. There is also a section on supporting hybrid workers going through the menopause.

Menopausal women are the fastest-growing workforce in the UK with around 4.4 million women aged 50-64 in work, a figure which has risen by a third in the last decade.

There is growing interest in support for menopausal women, both in terms of workplace policies and in countering discrimination. A recent report by Health & Her found that 370,000 women had left work or were considering leaving because they were struggling to deal with the symptoms of the menopause while at work, which include hot flushes, difficulties concentrating, fatigue, mood swings and self-doubt, many of which are compounded by a lack of awareness or understanding.

The Women and Equalities Committee is currently consulting on what more can be done to address menopause discrimination, including whether specific legislation is needed to protect older women’s rights.

This month saw the celebration of World Menopause Day, with many employers announcing related policies or initiatives, for instance, Timpson said they would pay for women to have Hormone Replacement Treatment. Several surveys were published showing how severe symptoms affect women’s ability to work.

The Labour MP Carolyn Harris is to present a bill in Parliament this week [29th October] for the abolition of charges for hormone replacement therapy. A survey of 2,000 employees and 500 business owners by Benenden Health found 23 per cent of women who have serious menopause symptoms have left their jobs, 18 per cent said they were not given a pay rise or promotion and 13 per cent said they had to go through a disciplinary procedure.

To order the free menopause toolkit, click here. 

*Join us for the first National Older Workers Week. It runs from 22nd-26th November and will include a series of online events for employers and candidates with leading experts and employers. There will be a panel discussion on the results of our survey of older workers’ experience of Covid and their attitudes towards their working lives, a best practice event on everything from eliminating age bias in the recruitment process to returner programmes and lifelong learning, an event for line managers on managing multigenerational teams and a candidate-focused  event sharing older workers’ experiences with expert advice for those who wish to change their careers. Find out more and register for the free events here.

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