So it makes sense to answer it.
Our answer is ‘We don’t write menopause policies, but we can help you write one for your business or organisation.’
In this blog we don’t just explain why we won’t write your menopause policy from scratch for you, we share with you resources you can use to help you to write your menopause policy for your workplace.
One that’s right for your organisation and colleagues.
What are the 3 reaons we don’t write menopause policies?
The 3 reasons are:
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- We’re not employment law specialists
- You know your business and your people better than we do
- You’ll know what other policies you have in place for wellbeing
1. We’re not employment law specialists
We take your business seriously.
And with the increase in employment tribunal decisions against employers, it’s important for businesses and organisations to ensure while they’re supporting those affected by peri-menopause and menopause related symptoms, they’re also managing their legal risks.
Your menopause policy plays a key role.
In an article by People Management in June 2022:
The number of tribunals that reference menopause have nearly doubled in a year, research has found.
An analysis of court records, conducted by Menopause Experts Group, found that there were 23 employment tribunals citing menopause in 2021, an increase of 44 per cent on the 16 cases seen in the previous year.
This included 16 tribunals claiming disability discrimination, 14 claiming unfair dismissal and 10 claiming sex discrimination.
2. You know your business and your colleagues better than we do
Your menopause policy, should you decide to have one, has to work for your business or organisation and your colleagues.
You know how your business or organisation functions and your colleagues better than anyone.
You know how your business works from day-to-day.
By talking with your colleagues they can help you to identify where help and additional support may be needed, if they’re struggling with menopause-related symptoms at work.
In your menopause policy you may want to name a person who is a point of contact and support for those that need it?
Perhaps identifying your menopause champion?
Someone to talk to for those that feel uncomfortable talking to their own manager, or HR about their menopause-related symptoms.
As menopause support isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ your workplace may need to offer a variety of support to include in your menopause policy.
One of the ways to identify what help and support to potentially offer, is to do a risk assessment around menopause-related symptoms and identify if there’s anything specifically aggravating and making menopause-related symptoms worse in the workplace.
For example a risk assessment may identify the temperature in the workplace may be an issue for some, a lack of access to cold drinking water or the material uniforms are made off and even the fit of the uniform may cause discomfort.
You can also use a pulse-poll and offer lunch and learn sessions to talk to your colleagues to find out what would help them.
Find out more about what a lunch and learn session is here
2. You know your business and your colleagues better than we do
Chances are you may already have a number of policies for your workplace in place such as policies for flexible working, performance management, health and safety and sickness absence, bullying and harassment etc.
You may want to review your policies to make sure they’re up to date with your menopause-related adjustments.
Helping you to create your menopause policy
We promised we wouldn’t leave you on your own to write your own menopause policy for your workplace.
We’ve put together some information to help you.
One of the things we think you’ll find useful is your free menopause policy checklist.
It identifies the main areas to consider when you’re writing your own menopause policy.
Free Menopause policy checklist
Perhaps you’re not ready to write your menopause policy and you want to introduce guidelines first.
This video may be for you
Menopause policy v menopause guidelines: What’s the difference?
And there’s this video too:
5 good reasons to write a menopause policy https://bit.ly/ReasonsToWriteAMenopausePolicy
Want to arrange a call to find out more about our menopause awareness training?
Email hello@menopausetrainingcompany.com and we can arrange a chat over Zoom.
