Developing workplace menopause policies

Four reasons why, and how

Summary:

Menopause is increasingly – if finally – being acknowledged as an important workplace issue. Five experts from different fields discuss the social, business, legal and ethical cases for improving support at work for women transitioning through the menopause, and explain how to start and sustain the conversation with employers.

Menopause – when a woman stops having periods for good – is currently receiving an increasing amount of attention. Celebrities including Kirsty Wark, Davina McCall, Gillian Anderson, Jenny Eclair, Meg Mathews, Carol Vorderman and Cynthia Nixon have shared their experiences of this natural, and yet often taboo, mid-life transition with the wider world. Also noticeable is a groundswell among employers across a variety of sectors that are acknowledging the significant effects menopause symptoms …

Vanessa Beck is senior lecturer in work and organisation at the University of Bristol.

Jo Brewis is professor of people and organisations at the Open University.

Andrea Davies is associate professor in marketing and consumer research at the University of Leicester.

Sue Fish is director at StarFish Consulting.

Deborah Garlick is the founder of Henpicked.

Author: Beck V, Brewis J, Davies A, Fish S, Garlick D

Tags age oh policies pregnancy, menopause and reproductive health

Occupational Health at Work October/November 2018 (vol. 15/3) pp22-25

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