Many menopausal women are suffering at work. Employers are starting to step in

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Today we’re spotlighting a recent survey from HR consulting firm Mercer that finds a growing number of employers this year say they’re making moves to offer more support for women experiencing menopausal symptoms. That may help begin to break the stigma attached to being menopausal at work.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

• 15% of large organizations — up from just 4% last year — indicate they are either currently offering or plan to offer benefits to help women experiencing menopausal symptoms, the Mercer survey shows.
• Hot flashes, heart palpitations, chronic insomnia and brain fog are among the most common menopausal symptoms and they affect roughly 25% of the US working population at any one time.
• More than 39 million working women in the US in their 40s and beyond will discover that the symptoms of perimenopause and menopause will intrude on their workday, but the symptoms often are not adequately acknowledged and are usually considered something to be hidden at work.

WHEN SYMPTOMS SHOW UP AT WORK

• A 63-year-old office administrator describes her coworkers “giving me weird looks because I’m sweating like a guilty perp being interrogated”
• Many working women try not to draw attention to their symptoms for fear of ageism. A 48-year-old woman who works in digital marketing said she feels more accepted as a person of color at her company than as an older woman.
• A recent study by the Mayo Clinic found that 13% of women reported having at least one adverse work outcome due to menopause symptoms in the past year, including missed days at work, reduced hours, being laid off or fired, or choosing to quit.

HOW EMPLOYERS CAN HELP

• Organon, a health care company that focuses on women’s health, began offering a plan this year that lets any employee take up to 10 days off to address self-care issues of any kind, which the company notes can include dealing with menopausal symptoms. Employees don’t have to specify the reason.
• Organon believes this will also help keep women in the leadership pipeline, as menopause “comes at a time when women are at an inflection point in their careers, [often] at the point of ascendancy into leadership roles.”
• Giving women more control over the temperature where they work is also helpful. Being flexible on what employees are allowed to wear may also give women cooler clothing options.
• Managers can also highlight what benefits are already on offer that could help with certain symptoms, including those for mental health such as Employee Assistance Programs for dealing with anxiety.
• Next year, the non-profit Menopause Society plans to introduce a consensus recommendation of what employers can do to help employees contending with menopause, medical director Dr. Stephanie Faubion says.
• In the meantime, Faubion says the best message employers can convey is, “This is a normal life stage. We understand this period can be challenging, and we’re here for you.”

What’s the medical community doing on menopause? Probably not enough. Faubion says there’s a “menopause management vacuum” among physicians, leaving many women to experiment with treatments on their own. A majority go untreated, assuming nothing can be done, she says. On the pharmaceutical front though, a new type of drug to treat hot flashes and night sweats was approved this year – an alternative to traditional hormone replacement therapies.

What do you think of efforts by employers to accommodate women experiencing menopausal symptoms? Does your employer offer these benefits? Share your stories in the comments.?

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