Women go through a lot of changes throughout their lives as far as their health goes. One of these is menopause. This life change can last for years and will bring with it a variety of different symptoms.
While many employers do have policies in place involving both pregnancy and maternity, they often forget about menopause. Menopause symptoms can be trying for a woman, and it is crucial that her workplace act appropriately. Here’s why menopausal women should be supported at work.
“Menopausal women experience cognitive impairment and feel as if they lack energy quite often. this can make it difficult for them to work during their menopausal years”
The Challenges of Working in Your Menopausal Years
When menopause symptoms begin to happen, many women just aren’t sure how to cope with them. They find that they have hot flashes and issues sleeping. They can also experience cognitive impairment and feel as if they lack energy quite often. All of this can make it difficult for women to work during their menopausal years. Their interrupted sleeping patterns and lack of energy may make it difficult for them to get out of bed in the morning. The brain fog that they experience can cause them to make mistakes at work that they normally wouldn’t have.
As much as a woman may love her job, she may struggle with going to work and performing her daily tasks when she is experiencing menopause symptoms. During this time, it also isn’t uncommon for women to feel as if they are less valued than other employees. All of this can make working very challenging.
The Lack of Support for Menopausal Women at Work
Even though menopausal changes can be debilitating to women, many workplaces don’t support them. They don’t always understand what a woman may be going through. Unfortunately, many women feel too ashamed to speak up and express their needs. This often puts women and employers in a difficult predicament.
Employers don’t know how to support menopausal women, and women may miss time from work or not function to the best of their abilities because of menopause. It’s important that employers start to support women before, during at after their menopausal years. Doing so will make a better workplace for everyone.
“When menopausal women feel as if they have ample support from their employer, they can be more productive”
Why Menopausal Women Should Have Ample Support in the Workplace
It is crucial that menopausal women have ample support when they are at work. This will allow them to perform better overall. If they know that their employer will support them, they may actually end up missing less time at work when they are having a difficult day.
When menopausal women feel as if they have ample support from their employer, they can be more productive as well. Fortunately, supporting menopausal women doesn’t have to be difficult for an employer. They can appoint someone to act as an advocate to act on a woman’s behalf. They can create policies that empower women to speak up and feel supported. They can also provide educational tools that help women understand ways that they can alleviate their symptoms while they are at work and at home.
Even though these things may seem small, they can have a big impact overall. Providing support to menopausal women at work should be something that all employers take part in.
“Employers should do everything in their power to create a positive workplace for menopausal women”
How Menopausal Women are Coping Up at Work
Many menopausal women are having to come up with their own ways to cope at work because employer resources aren’t available. According to gynecologist Anna Cabeca, “I would never want to say, ok, because you’re in your 50s, we expect you to have these problems.”
As you can see, even doctors agree that women shouldn’t just try to cope with their menopausal symptoms while at work. It’s not uncommon for them to bring a fan from home. This will allow them to be comfortable during hot flashes. Some women ask to work from home when they are experiencing brain fog or didn’t get a good night’s sleep.
For women that don’t have very supportive employers, they will often call in sick when their menopausal symptoms seem to be too much to handle at an supportive work environment.
In conclusion, it’s imperative that menopausal women at work are supported. This will allow women to cope with their symptoms, be more productive and miss less time. The lack of support that many women feel is detrimental to everyone involved.
Employers should do everything in their power to create a positive workplace for menopausal women. Even small changes can have a huge impact on everyone.
Source and Reference:
Menopausal women aren’t being supported at work—and it’s affecting companies’ bottom line
https://qz.com/1576313/menopausal-women-arent-being-supported-at-work/
