Menopause Awareness - How Can Your School Support Employees?
Last month we celebrated World Menopause Day on 18 October, the culmination of a month focusing on menopause, aiming to raise awareness and improve health and wellbeing for women around the World.
Our Narrow Quay HR look at how it might be impacting your workplace and what you can do to support your employees.
What Is the Menopause?
Most people know that the menopause is when a woman stops having periods, as a natural part of ageing, and usually happens between 45-55 years of age. What is less well-known and understood is the stage leading up to menopause, known as the perimenopause. This is the time when many women start to experience symptoms to greater or lesser degrees. Similarly this stage itself can vary in length - it can often last for four to five years, although for some women it may continue for many more years or for others last just a few months.
What Is the Impact for Schools?
As a workforce, education is predominantly female (statistics for England show the proportion of females in the workforce was at 75.5% as at November 2021; for support staff the percentage was even higher at 89.0%). Around a fifth of the 15.5 million women working in the UK are aged over 50, and with the average age for a woman to go through menopause being 51 (although one in a 100 women experience menopause before age 40) - this means it will be applicable to a large section of your workforce.
The range of symptoms experienced (hot flushes, night sweats, low mood, poor memory, insomnia, anxiety/panic attacks, headaches, fatigue, joint pains and palpitations) can be debilitating in any context, but their impact can be amplified at work. Being faced with thirty children as you feel a hot flush rising or if your mind suddenly goes blank, can be very distressing and can impact on an individual's confidence and self-esteem.
How Can You Support Your Employees At Work?
The varying durations and symptoms of both perimenopause and menopause can make identifying appropriate support strategies difficult for any employer. Added to that, some women may not identify the symptoms they are experiencing as being linked to the menopause so may not recognize that they need support.
As an employer you can support by:
- Increasing awareness amongst all staff - create an open, encouraging environment where people feel comfortable discussing their concerns and are supported by line managers and colleagues alike. Consider running awareness campaigns. Consider the opportunity of extending this awareness to pupils as part of PHSE.
- Treating menopause in same way as you would any absence with appropriate sickness absence management procedures.
- Discussing possible adjustments for employees experiencing menopause related to their specific symptoms such as flexible start/finish times, adjustable temperature control, quieter workspaces etc.
- Developing a menopause policy to outline what support is available to staff.
- Training your line managers specifically on dealing with menopause issues, so they are able to handle any discussions sensitively and professionally.
Employers who act now to raise awareness across all staff and to implement appropriate support mechanisms for employees experiencing the menopause, will be well placed to deal with any future challenges.
Narrow Quay HR can help you in identifying what support would be useful for your school - whether it's creating a menopause policy, running awareness campaigns or training sessions for line managers.