Ahead of World Menopause Day, new research indicates that over half of UK businesses do not currently have any dedicated menopause support in place.
Although awareness linked to menopause and its effects are becoming increasingly visible for companies, many are failing to offer adequate support, new research by Peppy, a digital health and wellness platform, suggests.
At present, over half of companies are failing to provide support to staff going through the menopause.
In addition, although the movement is gaining momentum, the number of businesses who do not plan to provide menopause support now or in the future (24 per cent) outweighs the number who do plan to (21 per cent).
For firms which did implement robust support, when asked why they did so, the majority cited their duty of care towards their employees and claimed it was the right thing to do (29 per cent).
Other reasons including aligning with the company’s brand values (19 per cent) and helping companies to retain staff (15 per cent), reflecting the huge number of women (900,000) who have been thought to quit their job due to the menopause.
The most popular type of menopause support offered (45 per cent) was general support for some of the symptoms including mental health issues and sleep problems through Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs).
Private Medical Insurance was also a go-to option (39 per cent), providing key help in terms of health and wellbeing.
Other offerings included education or events around the menopause and offering dedicated support from a menopause specialist healthcare professional.
Mridula Pore, CEO of Peppy, stated there is “still more to do” when it comes to the menopause and support offered:
The menopause movement is clearly gaining ground in the workplace but there is more to do.
The workforce is evolving and becoming more multi-generational. The rate at which employers are taking up menopause support is positive, as these figures suggest.
Although 24 per cent of employers are not currently planning to support menopause in the workplace, they will need to adapt in order to compete in terms of recruitment and retention.
Employers should not wait to be approached by their staff – they need to lead the discussion that it is okay to have symptoms and to ask for support at work.
Previous research suggested that firms could be at risk of legal claims by failing to handle issues linked to the menopause correctly, with the number of menopause-related tribunal claims growing substantially over recent years.
Monica Sharma is an English Literature graduate from the University of Warwick. As Editor for HRreview, her particular interests in HR include issues concerning diversity, employment law and wellbeing in the workplace. Alongside this, she has written for student publications in both England and Canada. Monica has also presented her academic work concerning the relationship between legal systems, sexual harassment and racism at a university conference at the University of Western Ontario, Canada.
