Menopausal at work? The Government Doesn’t Want You – or Anyone Else – to Get the Proper Support
Zoe Williams
When the government announced that the Employment Bill was going to give menopausal women the right to take time off work, there was cause for suspicion. Now that the bill has been released, it turns out that this right is not as generous as it could have been.
Under the new rules, people who are menopausal at work are not given an explicitly enforced right to more breaks and shorter hours, making it difficult for them to get the support they need. Instead, employers are obligated to come up with a policy of their own.
This policy is supposed to include the flexibility and support that menopausal people need at work, but with the government leaving it up to individual employers to decide exactly how that support should be provided, many women can indeed find themselves in a situation of either not getting the support they need or facing discrimination for asking for it.
Reasons for concern
The lack of regulation from the government regarding the entitlements that menopausal women should receive at work makes it impossible to ensure that everyone receives a fair and equal level of support. It is a worrying prospect to think that employers could get away with providing only limited support, or indeed, no support, to people experiencing the menopause.
What the Government Could do Better
The government could do a much better job of protecting menopausal people at work. Instead of leaving employers to decide what policy to set in place, the government should be more explicit in setting out what requirements they impose on employers.
This could include ensuring people have more flexible working hours as well as taking more regular breaks during the day. It could also involve making sure that employers are aware of the various signs of menopause and that they understand the importance of taking proper care of their employees at this time.
Conclusion
The government’s approach to supporting menopausal people at work is not as generous as it could be. The lack of regulation is a huge concern and makes it much more difficult for menopausal people to get the support and protection they need. In order for things to improve, the government needs to provide more explicit and comprehensive guidance to employers about how to provide the necessary support. As women increasingly enter the workplace and have more career opportunities in the modern world, it is becoming more and more common for women in their 40s and 50s to experience menopause while working. This can often lead to challenging conditions in the workplace, with employers and colleagues not always fully understanding the physical and emotional effects that menopause can have on a woman. While the UK government is taking steps to improve this situation, a recent article by Zoe Williams in The Guardian highlights a worrying lack of real progress when it comes to properly supporting women at work during menopause.
Williams examines the various efforts that the UK government has made in recent years to address the issue. These have included consulting employers on how to respond to menopausal workers, creating guidance on reasonable adjustments to be made in the workplace, and developing a national standard of care for menopausal health. However, Williams points out that none of these measures explicitly make menopausal women a protected class, leaving them vulnerable to facing discrimination in the workplace. Equally concerning are the findings of the King’s Fund and Nuffield Trust, which reveal that there are still not enough good quality data available to properly assess the impact of menopause in the workplace.
The article also looks at the personal stories of women currently facing the challenges of menopause in the workplace. These stories reveal a range of issues, from employers not understanding the impact of menopause to bullying from co-workers and an overall lack of sympathy from those around them. This underscores the need for the government to do more to ensure that menopausal women in the workplace get the support and understanding that they need.
Overall, Zoe Williams’ article highlights an issue facing many working women today, and calls for the government to make more progress in providing adequate support for menopausal women in the workplace. The article suggests that this could involve developing better quality data, promoting better understanding amongst employers and colleagues, and enshrining legal protection for women going through menopause. Until more is done, women can expect to continue facing challenges in the workplace due to their menopausal health.