Giving Voice to Women’s Health at Work

Women’s health has long been silent in the workplace. How many times have you sat in a meeting unable to concentrate with killer menstrual cramps, or hormonal brain fog causing you to worry you’ll be singled out for low performance at certain times in the month? We know someone who sat in a boardroom, feeling unable to excuse herself from the high-level corporate discussion taking place, despite the fear, and subsequent confirmation, that she was, in fact, beginning to lose her early pregnancy.

The onset of menopause is equally shrouded in silence. It’s a topic not given enough airtime (if any), and one that simply must be. It is a time of life where many women lose confidence and conviction in their personal ability to fulfil their set role. All due to menopause symptoms - that can be managed. Too often, women take a side step, a step back, or a step away entirely from their chosen career path as menopause hits.

This must be dealt with, seeing as women have so much to give at this time of life in terms of professional experience, lean-back leadership and a broad-spectrum vision that is essential in the workplace.

Going through menopause can affect women in different ways – some may not experience many symptoms but for others, physical and psychological symptoms including hot flushes, poor sleep, anxiety, low mood, and poor concentration can all have a significant effect on your working day. Perimenopause, in particular, is difficult in that you might not realise that you are in it if your symptoms are psychological; anxiety, loss of confidence and problems concentrating – you may think it’s a form of work anxiety.

It’s important to join the dots between stress or burnout and the menopause, but the fact remains that the issue of how to manage menopause at work is something that both women and employers can shy away from. We spoke to Career Psychologist, Sinead Brady, who advised on the simple steps employers can take to make life easier for women dealing with symptoms.

Women’s health in the workplace

There are myriad reasons why women may not feel they can discuss symptoms openly; some fear being considered less able or productive, while others may have a manager they don’t feel able to approach or some simply not want to. Regardless, Sinead says the work environment should be made comfortable enough so that open conversations can be had.

“I would suggest to employers that menopause forms the part of a larger conversation about women's health within the workplace. So if women are not in a position to talk about their health, in the context of their life stage, so let that be about periods, let that be about menopause, there needs to be a way to get around that in the office.”

Sinead suggests that employers could take a series of simple steps to ensure that women’s health can be discussed openly in an office setting.

“Really simple things that employers can do that don't cost a lot of money is, for example, to have a little tray in the bathrooms, that has tampons and women's sanitary products in it. So that there's an acceptance, not just in policy, but in practice, that this is part of women's health in the workplace, and there's no need to be covert about that,” Sinead says.

Wellbeing at work

“It starts at the very beginning and should start as an open conversation,” she explains. “And then it's really about addressing it as part of a wellbeing package. So when you're talking about wellbeing, be around exercise, nutrition, whatever that is that you talk about in your workplace, it also needs to involve something that addresses women, while they are either having their period or while they're going through menopause. “

“So for example, if there is a wellbeing app or similar supports in your place of work, make it known to employees – this is a helpful aid when you are going through a challenging time, such as menopause. Employers need to begin the conversation, not as a conversation about menopause in isolation, but as a conversation about health overall, and normalise that.”

“Because this is the fact 50% of the workplace are women. That means 50% of the women in the workplace are experiencing either a period or going through the menopause. And it needs to become part of the pervasive social narrative. So we need to talk about it, we need to for information to be accessible.”

Proactive, simple steps

“As managers, we need to be really proactive and share this support and information,” she continues. “So I always say to staff, send around an email on Wellness Wednesday that has different pieces of content in it each week. And one of those weeks, it could be focused on women's health. And part of that is simply saying: We have resources on our Wellness Hub or Wellness Centre that focuses on menstruation and menopause. And just gradually allow it to become part of the accepted social narrative. “

“And then it’s back to the simple things like pushing information, putting free women's healthcare packs in the bathroom. Even this is going back to basics. It means that you don't have to run out of the meeting trying to stuff a tampon or a pad up your sleeves! You can leave the room with dignity and go and do whatever it is that you need during that particular day with some ease. “

“I think that just like we have other types of days of leave that are outside of sick leave, a really progressive organisation can put in place a women's health day. Because the reality is that women do have different health needs than men in an office. “

Normalising the narrative

“The whole point of something like a women's health day is that you don't have to explain it and importantly, it is not taken out of your annual leave and has not been taken out of your sick leave. But it can be a day a month where you can actually take leave to get through the particular, biological issue that is around being a woman which is going through menopause.

After all, if you've got private health cover, men are covered for maternity leave, just like women, so men have equal entitlement to access to maternity leave, despite the fact that biologically they cannot have children.”

“At the end of the day, it all goes back to equality; we need to begin to have the menopause conversation as one which starts by being more equal and health-based from the get-go.”

Heyday in conversation with Sinéad Brady
How do you feel women’s health is dealt with in your workplace?
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