When Janet Roach started experiencing menopausal symptoms at 44, she would make light of hot flushes when they happened at work. “I’d be sitting in a meeting and would feel heat radiating from the bottom of my feet all the way up my body. I’d be taking layers off. It used to be a bit of a running joke.”
Six years later, those symptoms had progressed into brain fog, periods of sleeplessness and depression. “Sometimes we’d have a Teams meeting and by the time we’d hung up, I’d forgotten what it was about,” says Roach, who works as an insurance claims specialist at the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which protects customers if their financial service provider goes out of business. “I was crying a lot and I didn’t understand why. I was fed up with myself and I thought other people must be fed up with me too.”
Menopause typically occurs when a woman is between 45 and 55 years of age and may last about seven years, but for some it’s as long as 14 years. This can be a debilitating time. Research has shown that one in 10 women have left a job due to menopausal symptoms and one in four have considered leaving. Others are less likely to want to apply for a promotion. And despite this being a near-universal experience among half of the population, too many women still feel as if they have to suffer in silence. The British Menopause Society has found that 45% of women feel that menopausal symptoms had a negative impact on their work and 47% won’t tell their employer the real reason if they need a day off. It’s estimated the menopause costs the UK economy 14m working days a year.
And that figure could rise significantly in the future. Women over the age of 50 are the fastest growing demographic in the workplace. Currently, 4.5 million working women are aged between 50 and 64, but there are still fears that a lack of support is pushing highly skilled women into early retirement. “What we don’t want is for women to feel they’re unable to carry on working,” says Paula Briggs, chair of the British Menopause Society. “[Employers] need to accept this is part of life and something we need to adapt to. Menopause is a life stage, and while it can be a difficult life stage, there are lots of different ways to manage it. It should be an accepted part of how we support the workforce more generally.”
Thankfully, the tide seems to be turning. As recently as 2019, a poll by the CIPD, the professional body for HR professionals, found that just one in 10 employers had a framework in place to support those going through the menopause. Three years later, that number is three in 10. Deborah Garlick, founder of Henpicked: Menopause in the Workplace, ran a conference on menopause with employers in 2017. “Attendees were a little bemused back then. Menopause was really taboo,” she says.
Some of that stigma has disappeared, thanks to celebrities such as Davina McCall and Yasmin Le Bon being open about their experiences with the menopause, and research being done at a policy level. In March, Helen Tomlinson, head of talent at the Adecco Group, was appointed as the government’s first menopause employment champion.
Today, Garlick says there’s been a step change in attitudes and numerous employers, including the FSCS, have signed up with her organisation to be a menopause-friendly workplace. Members span all industries and sectors, from West Ham United Football Club and HSBC, to the Alzheimer’s Society and Boots. They attend training and events, and share resources with each other. Eventually, some will work towards an official Menopause Friendly Accreditation, which is judged by an independent panel. To date, about 40 employers have achieved the required standard in the UK.
Committing to being a menopause-friendly employer can be as simple as running training sessions around the menopause, making desk fans available, or making appropriate adjustments to uniforms. Sometimes it’s just about offering a listening ear.
“We have employers that come to us because they’ve got problems in terms of equality – maybe they just can’t get women on the board,” Garlick says. “But employers are also inspiring others to take action. Good leaders are hearing about this and they want to make a change. And the main reason isn’t for financial reasons, but because it’s the right thing to do for employee wellbeing.”
That’s certainly been the approach at the FSCS, says Lila Pleban, the company’s chief communications officer. “For us, it’s a holistic approach to health and wellbeing throughout the organisation, so everyone feels included. We want to support employees and their families. Menopause impacts everyone – it can be quite staggering.”
The FSCS’s benefits package now includes access to a virtual GP, full health check, and mental health support. There’s also private medical insurance for menopause through the company’s employee assistance programme. The FSCS also runs training sessions for all staff and plans to apply for accreditation with Menopause in the Workplace later this year. It signed the Wellbeing of Women Menopause Workplace pledge in November 2022.
Roach says flexible working has helped her a lot. She can choose which days she goes into the office or have an “interruption-free day”, whereby she doesn’t have to attend meetings. There are mental health first aiders in the office too that she knows she can speak to if needs be. “Everyone’s been very patient and flexible when I’m having bad days,” she says. “If you’ve got an employer that’s vouching for you and looking after your wellbeing, it does make it easier.”
Pleban, who went through early menopause herself, was surprised by the effect it had on her. “I’m a lively, energetic, social person, but it made me retreat into myself and lose a lot of confidence. It’s horrible to go through. I really hope other employers start to take away the stigma of talking about it, because it can be a really big thing at work. People can really suffer and it can affect the whole team. But once you know that, you can do something about it.
“Start talking about it and keep the conversation going. This isn’t a tick-box exercise. It takes thought, time and effort,” she adds. “It’s not shameful, it’s not embarrassing. It’s just a part of life.”
Do you want to make a difference and join a diverse and inclusive organisation? Please visit the FSCS careers website