Deborah Garlick
CEO, Henpicked: Menopause In The Workplace
Break the workplace taboo on menopause and menstruation now. Join the mission for genuine support with 500+ members, to engage and educate more employers.
The taboo of menopause in the workplace is being broken, and the stigma is receding with increasing numbers of employers committed to being menopause-friendly. While it’s good to know around one in four employers have a menopause policy and half are taking action, we must redouble our efforts to bring the other half along with us.
Menopause-friendly workplace policy
With nearly 500 ‘Menopause Friendly’ members and 100 organisations having achieved the Menopause Friendly Accreditation, our membership provides a strong base from which we can engage, educate and support employers that do not yet have an active menopause-friendly policy.
This 2024 is Mission Critical: we cannot become complacent in our quest to change the lived experience of menopause in every workplace. We are working with our Menopause Friendly members to share best practices and support others in their industry to overcome any barriers in their way. Together, we can raise the bar and increase the number of genuinely menopause-friendly employers.
Many employers have good intentions to be menopause-friendly. Now, we must help them turn those intentions into actions, as only active policies bespoke to each workplace and workforce will ensure the right support is in place.
Over a third of women have experienced period shaming in the workplace and 87% have lied to their employer about their real reason for sickness.
Shame surrounding menstruation
While we continue our mission to help employers become menopause-friendly, we are also turning our attention to raising awareness among employers of the need to be menstruation-friendly.
As with menopause a few years ago, there is a stigma attached to talking openly about menstruation at work; over a third of women have experienced period shaming in the workplace and 87% have lied to their employer about their real reason for sickness.
Supporting women at work
Breaking the taboo about menstruation promotes gender equity and ensures that female colleagues feel supported and valued at work. From coping with problem periods to navigating the serious, debilitating and worrying symptoms of conditions such as endometriosis and fibroids, having workplace support is vital to protect the health and wellbeing of women throughout their careers.
Awareness of this need is rising, further fuelled by the recent BSI Standards shedding new light on the issue. In response to demand from employers, we have just launched our ‘Menstruation Friendly’ training support and ‘Menstruation Friendly Accreditation’ to help employers better understand and support female staff to be their best at work.
