One in 10 women aged between 45 and 55 have left employment because of the menopause. 🔵 hannahfearn asks ➡️ Is ‘menopause leave’ is the solution?
One in 10 women aged between 45 and 55 have left employment because of the menopause. Could ‘menopause leave’ be the solution?
“My work has suffered and my ability to lead the team has suffered,” she explains. “I had no confidence in my ability, which isn’t very good when you’re trying to run a business. If I had been working for someone else and I wasn’t on form it could be potentially very serious in terms of my job security.”and now feels in control of her symptoms – but her experience made her think about how her employees might cope going through the same thing.
Her company, Cowshed Communications, introduced a menopause policy for all staff which includes flexible working options but also a generous right to sick leave for anyone dealing with menopause symptoms. MPs on the influential Women and Equalities Committee are arguing that the law should consider menopause, just like pregnancy, a “protected characteristic” – meaning that women can’t be penalised by their bosses just because they need help during these mid-life changes.
Caroline Noakes, chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, warns that talented women are being lost from the workforce due to menopause said that although menopause was inevitable “the steady haemorrhage of talented women from our workforce” should not be, and warned that the “stigma” of menopause was having a corrosive effect on women at work.