During the course of the past few years, we’ve seen conversations about menopause start to open up, and more and more organisations introducing policies, support and guidance. This has created a platform for talking about other women’s health issues, one of which is menstruation and menstrual health in the workplace.  

While it is clearly a positive step that these are being put under the spotlight, there is still a long way to go to achieve the type of awareness and support we’d like to see, in particular with menstrual issues.

Why do we need to be thinking about these issues at work? First, let’s quickly explore and explain just what they mean.

Menstruation is the monthly bleeding as part of a *woman’s reproductive cycle. For some it’s not particularly bothersome, but for others the symptoms can be very difficult. For another subset of women there are associated menstrual health issues, such as endometriosis, premenstrual syndrome and polycystic ovary syndrome. All of which can have an impact in the workplace.

Menopause, technically, is the day after you have had 12 months without a period. More commonly, we mean perimenopause, which is the time leading up to menopause and can bring a host of symptoms which can be troublesome in the workplace. Three quarters of women experience some symptoms, and a quarter severe symptoms.

Often, women don’t realise the issues they’re experiencing are related to perimenopause. We often think about things like hot flushes, but less so about the psychological aspects such as anxiety, brain fog and loss of confidence. These are the ones which women often cite as being the most difficult to cope with at work and why organisations need to think about offering support.

Which brings me back to my earlier question. Why do we need to be talking about menopause and menstruation in the workplace?

Actually, there are lots of good reasons for organisations to be looking at these as key areas of their wellbeing support.

The business case

We often refer to the ‘leaky pipeline’ in the workplace. By this, we mean that women tend to come into the workplace on the same terms and in the same numbers as their male counterparts. But across their life course we can see them dropping out of the workplace.

So while the professions might be evenly balanced with people in their 20s, by their 50s and at senior levels, the number of women is much smaller. This is, in no small part, due to issues women face across their life course, including menstrual health, menopause and caring responsibilities.

Employers can struggle to recruit and retain employees and, as we’ve seen above, are losing a lot of female talent. For many women in menopause, their symptoms are so severe that without support they will take themselves out of the workplace, and we need to encourage them to stay.  The same can be true of menstruation and associated issues.

There is a strong case for arguing that if we put policies in places across the female life course, supporting women with menstruation, complex fertility, baby loss, menstrual health issues, childcare and menopause this will pay off commercially. There is lots of evidence to suggest that postmenopause, women are incredibly productive. So it’s a crying shame to lose these skills and this experience from our workplaces.

The legal case

There have been a growing number of successful tribunal cases brought in particular around menopause. While in itself not a protected characteristic, many of these claims are being brought under disability discrimination. Menstruation and associated conditions are also not a characteristic in themselves, but here claims are often brought under sex discrimination.

The social justice case

It’s just the right thing to do as a good employer. We want to treat people well, to offer dignity at work, and enable cultural environments where people can thrive, whatever their gender.

We often say to employers that making workplace adjustments to support women in menopause, for example, will benefit the rest of workplace and make it more diverse.

The commercial business case is very important, but any organisation behaving in an ethical way and doing things simply because they’re the right thing to do is sending out a very important message about its values.

Policy and organisational support

We’ve seen something of a sea change, in particular where menopause is concerned, with around half of employers now having a menopause policy or guidance in place. But that means half haven’t, and the figures for menstruation are much higher. There’s a big task still ahead to redress this imbalance.

The importance of line managers

We know that line managers have huge jobs. They have a lot of responsibilities across a lot of functions, and HR is just one of these. It’s not at all surprising that, especially where sensitive topics are concerned, they may lack confidence, awareness and knowledge. But the biggest thing women say would help is line manager support and understanding with menopause and menstruation issues.

Training here is key. Line managers are not there to be menopause and menstrual health experts, but to be caring, to listen, to support and to signpost to other resources.

What can organisations consider?

There are lots of things an organisation can do, and many of these are simple and inexpensive. Think about the physical environment and providing easy access to bathroom facilities and toilets. Even if you have a clear desk policy, consider making an exception for small desk fans.

For those requiring uniform, look at adapting these to use cooler, more lightweight materials. Important to say here though, make sure this is done in an appropriate way, rather than singling out menopausal women. Some companies may simply offer extra uniforms, for example.

Think about your workplace culture. While we are making great strides, there are still places where menopause and menstrual issues carry a stigma, and it can be hard to have open conversations. This is the best way to break through any taboos: talking about things openly and frequently, to remove any fear or embarrassment.

Consider working practices and any adjustments you could offer. You could look at a wider view on flexible working, for example, adapting this to individual needs (this is a great way to improve both productivity and retention, too).

Look at both your formal and informal support networks. Formal channels are things like your intranet and menopause champions, while informal ones could be menopause cafés, where likeminded people can meet and chat. Many women say meeting kindred spirits has given them real reassurance that they’re not alone in how they’re feeling.

We asked women how they felt their experiences of menopause would affect them or had impacted them. Over 40% said they had found career progression harder due to menopause. Going into promotion boards after a bad night, feeling anxious, worrying about flooding… it’s not easy.

So women are just not putting themselves in the position at all. But employers could work around this issue. Does promotion have to be done via a formal board presentation, or are there other options?

We also found that around 20% of women are leaving their jobs early and 16% had to change their role significantly. There are huge negative impacts for a very high proportion of women.

Menopause and menstrual health are things for all organisations to consider supporting. These aren’t women’s issues, they are workplace issues and there is plenty employers can do, inexpensively, to address these. For employees, speak to your line manager or check your intranet to see what support is available. If there’s nothing, speak to HR and see if you can get something started.

Most menopause and menstruation support begins because of one passionate individual starting a conversation. And if you’re worried no one will join in, don’t be. You’ll be surprised how many people are waiting to become part of these conversations… so it’s time to get your voices heard.

* Where I use the term ‘woman’ throughout this piece I mean this inclusively of trans and non-binary people

Carol Atkinson

Carol is Director of Research for the Faculty of Business and Law. She is a Professor of Human Resource Management, researching work and employment and is a member of Decent Work and Productivity, a University Centre for Research and Knowledge Exchange (https://www.mmu.ac.uk/research/research-centres/dwp). She is currently leading the Adult Social Care Learning Lab, part of the ESRC funded Good Employment Learning Lab, and has other projects around gender pay gaps and menopause in the workplace. Carol supervises a number of PhD students and teaches performance management and research methods to UG and PG students.

Carol is a member of the Chartered Association of Business Schools Research Committee, a British Academy of Management Peer Review Fellow and sits on Greater Manchester’s Good Employment Charter Board. She sits on a number of academic journal editorial committee/review boards including Human Resource Management Journal. She is also Special Advisor to the Health and Social Care Committee Expert Panel on its evaluation of the Government’s workforce commitments.