Supporting care staff through the menopause

Menopause-age employees are becoming the fastest-growing workplace demographic, amounting to millions of staff across a range of business sizes and sectors.¹ In the adult social care sector, women account for 82 per cent of the workforce in England with an average employee age of 45 years old.² Despite this, most care facilities do not have any policies or support in place for employees going through the menopause and, in fact, many do not know where to start.

The Fawcett Menopause and the Workplace Report 2022³ found that one in ten women who have been employed during the menopause have left work due to symptoms and that many employers are not taking action to support menopausal women. The report also found that despite consistent evidence that a mix of appropriate interventions by employers can support these women, including culture change, training, advice, adapting absence policies, flexible work, and environmental changes, eight out of ten women surveyed said their employer had not put them in place and, when they do, that they are unhelpful.

Earlier this year, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) provided some much-needed guidance for employers on menopause in the workplace, clarifying the legal obligations they have to employees.