Menopause is a normal stage in every woman’s reproductive life. It occurs as a direct result of a woman’s oestrogen levels declining. In the UK, the average age for a woman to reach menopause is 51. Experiences and symptoms differ from woman to woman.
There are around 3.5 million women aged over 50 years are currently in employment in the UK. The employment rate for women in the UK has actually increased in the past few decades and women now represent nearly half of the UK labour force. This means that many more women are affected by symptoms of their menopause in the course of their daily activities, often to the detriment of their families, work and life in general.
The menopause affects every woman differently and so there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution to it. Some symptoms of the menopause are more common than others, for example, unpredictable periods or heavy bleeding, hot flushes, night sweats, poor sleep and emotional outbursts. Others are less well known, including growth or loss of body hair, clumsiness, pins and needles and moments of forgetfulness or poor concentration. About 25% of women have very debilitating symptoms.
Employers have responsibilities for the health and safety of all their employees, but there are also clear business reasons for proactively managing an age-diverse workforce. There are a number of practical adjustments that employers can put into place to support their staff to alleviate their symptoms in the workplace and this article is written with this in mind.
Daytime sweats and flushes
The hormone changes that occur with the menopause affects your body's ability to regulate its temperature. This can lead to a lower tolerance of surrounding workplace temperatures. Reduced comfort may be experienced when wearing workwear or personal protective equipment (PPE).
Suggested adjustments
- Ensure easy access to supply of cold drinking water.
- Ensure easy access to washroom facilities.
- Avoid close-fitting uniforms or those made with nylon or polyester fibres.
- Look at ways to cool the working environment for staff affected, for example fans at workstations; move desks to near windows/open windows and adjust air conditioning.
- Take account of mobile working schedules and allow time to access bathroom facilities during their working day.
- Adjust time required to wear Personal Protective Equipment at work.
Night time sweats and flushes, lack of sleep or tiredness
The hormone changes that occur with the menopause affects your body's ability to regulate its temperature. This can lead to difficulties sleeping at night times which can lead to tiredness and fatigue.
Suggested adjustments
- Provide support and advice on sleep hygiene
- Consider temporary adjustment of shift patterns, for example, adjustments of start and finish times, avoidance of rush hour traffic to accommodate any difficulties.
- Consider allowance for flexible working.
- Recognise potential need for sickness absence.
Increased urinary frequency or urgency
The changes in a woman's urinary function often accompany the menopause. Reduction in the amount of the female hormone Oestrogen reduces the urinary tract’s ability to control urination occurs. In advancing age, which usually coincides with menopause, has various debilitating effects on the pelvic area organs and tissues, which increases the need to urinate more frequently, the inability to control urination.
This can lead to the need to access bathroom facilities more frequently and may increase the need to consume more fluids at work.
Suggested adjustments
- Ensure easy access to toilet and washroom facilities.
- Allow for more frequent breaks in work to go to toilet.
- Ensure easy access to supply of cold drinking water.
- Take account of mobile working schedules and allow them to access facilities during their working day.
Irregular Periods
Irregular periods are a common symptom of the menopause. As you enter the menopause your hormone levels begin to fluctuate and decline, often having a knock-on effect on your menstrual cycle, which can give rise to menstrual spotting, abnormally heavy bleeding or changes to the cycles.
This can lead to the need to access toilet and washroom facilities more frequently.
Suggested adjustments
- Ensure easy access to toilet and washroom facilities.
- Allow for more frequent breaks in work to go to toilet.
- Ensure easy access to supply of cold drinking water.
- Take account of mobile working schedules and allow them to access facilities during their working day.
Brain fog and emotional ups and downs
Hormone changes at the menopause can contribute to depressed mood and anxious feelings. As you enter the menopause you may find your emotions swing from joy to frustration and annoyance quickly. If this was not enough, changing Oestrogen levels can also cause a sort of temporary forgetfulness or difficulty focusing on tasks.
This can lead to certain tasks becoming more difficult to carry out- for example when learning new skills (may be compounded by lack of sleep and fatigue); affects to working performance and increased susceptibility to work-related stress.
Suggested adjustments
- Encourage employee to discuss concerns openly at one-to-one meetings with manager or occupational health and negotiate possible adjustments.
- Provide access to talking therapies or counselling services.
- Address work related stress through risk assessment and implementation of the Health and Safety Executive's management standards.
- Promote physical and mental well being at work.
- Provide ability to network with colleagues experiencing similar issues.
Skin issues
Hormone changes can play havoc with your skin including skin dryness, acne, rashes and itchiness.
This can lead to difficulties and loss of comfort whilst wearing workplace clothing or uniforms.
Suggested adjustments
- Avoid close-fitting uniforms or those made with nylon or polyester fibres.
- Look at ways to cool the working environment for staff affected, for example fans at workstations; move desks to near windows/open windows and adjust air conditioning.
Aching joints
As oestrogen levels reduce, so does your bone density and muscle strength which can leave you feeling achy or your joints feeling uncomfortable.
This can lead to difficulties adopting static postures at work, or when undertaking heavy or repetitive manual handling tasks in the workplace.
Suggested adjustments
- Make any necessary temporary adjustments through review of risk assessments and work schedules.
- Encourage the use or hot packs in the workplace.
In summary, women who are experiencing the menopause need support from line management. With any longstanding health-related condition this is crucial and can make a major difference to how a woman will deal with the issues arising from the menopause.
Sources of further information
Faculty of occupational medicine guidance on menopause in the workplace
Faculty of Occupational medicine - Advice - menopause at work
The menopause and work - UNISON guide for safety representatives