Change is Coming...Menopause Rights at Work on the horizon

Sign the Change.org Petition + Labour Party Menopause Policy & NHS Guidelines

Do you work for an employer? Do they have a Menopause Policy? Do you feel helps our hinders women at work?

In the UK, there have been recent campaigns to make menopause a legally protected characteristic. Despite a failure to pass this into law in the British Parliament, the campaigners have not been cowed - they've come back.

According to an article in The Guardian newspaper, the UK's Labour Party says it will urge UK firms to publish menopause action plan, if it is voted into government. The National Health Service says it will offer people with menopausal symptoms paid time off work, and support in the workplace. And a Change.org petition has been launched to bring another bill to Parliament again.

Why is this important? About one in 10 women aged 45-55 left their jobs last year due to their symptoms and ultimately the lack of workplace support, according to research supported by the Fawcett Society.

In the UK, there is an employment crisis with a shortage of skilled people in the workforce - especially those over the age of 50 who retired or 'resigned' in the Covid pandemics.

The NHS has been especially aware of the risks of losing staff as 76.6% of its staff (76.7% of 1.3 million ) are women and many are choosing to leave to due stress and overwhelm of an under resourced health system. NHS CEO Amanda Pritchard announced plans last year

In an effort to encourage women to stay or return to the workforce, Labour has pledged to bring in a requirement for large companies to publish and implement a “menopause action plan” that sets out how they are supporting their employees experiencing menopausal symptoms.

The party plans to release government guidance, advising employers on the best ways to help their employees. Working women could also be offered alterations to their uniform to help manage menopausal symptoms.

According to an article by Aletha Adu, Angela Rayner, the party’s deputy leader, said the policy was a “simple and effective way” to “improve productivity, keep more people in work and ultimately grow our economy for all.”

Other changes suggested include training managers about how the menopause can affect women, and what assistance they might need, as well as workplace facilities such as access to ventilation facilities and cold water.

What do you think? Are menopause rights at work a help or a hindrance?

Menopause Wellbeing at Work Workshops

In addition to teaching Menopause Yoga to women and training other yoga teachers, I also deliver Menopause Awareness and Wellbeing Workshops in the Workplace for a range of public sector and corporate companies.

These include:

- NHS Derbyshire: I'm running 5 morning classes and talks at their menopause conference in March.

- Chartered Institute for Personnel Development (CIPD): I lead menopause awareness and policy workshops.

- The Wellbeing Project: I deliver menopause awareness workshops for a wide range of their international and Uk corporate clients.

- The Menopause Charity: I have filmed Menopause Yoga in the Workplace videos for their outreach educational work.

if you'd like to know more about the Workplace workshops I run, please email me at: petra@menopause-yoga.com