The number of women in the workplace at both ends of the spectrum is growing. 51% of the population are female and of these, 71% work. More female than male graduates are entering the professional working world, where menstruation could be an issue for them. Women over the age of 50 are the fastest growing group in the workforce and currently there are 4.3 million of them in the U.K. They will be highly experienced mid-career level women, who may be peri-menopausal or actively going through the menopause.
Pregnancy Loss
A high percentage of women sadly suffer a miscarriage. 1 in every 4 pregnancies ends in miscarriage. Many employers won’t necessarily know that their employee is pregnant, particularly if miscarriage occurs during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, when the employee may not have told anyone about her pregnancy yet.
Pregnancy loss policies are important because if a baby dies before 24 weeks, the parents do not qualify for statutory parental bereavement leave or statutory bereavement pay. This is a massive loophole in the current legislation and it can be just as devastating and can have equally harmful physical and mental health impacts to lose a baby early rather than later on during the pregnancy.
Sensitivity needs to be exercised around notification & proof issues. In reality, how likely is it that an employee would falsely allege that they had been pregnant and lost a baby in order to obtain time off work?
Employers need to have adequate financial and emotional support in place to protect their employees’ health, safety and wellbeing in the sad circumstances of pregnancy loss (for example, paid leave for medical appointments, sufficient time off to grieve and process what has happened and to access professional counselling where appropriate, and to recover physically and emotionally from the trauma of losing a baby.)
The payback to the employer will be in terms of loyalty and commitment to a business which supported its staff when they needed it most. Morally and ethically it is the right thing to do and employers should consider introducing a pregnancy loss policy, if they do not already have one.
Any pregnancy loss policy should recognise that these issues affect the non-pregnant partner in the relationship too. In the sad case of miscarriage, both parents are affected emotionally & the partner will also be caring for the physical effects which the female partner suffers. She may need to have a medical procedure to remove the foetus. Both parties may experience mental health issues arising from grief and anxiety around whether they will be able to have children in the future. Counselling should be equally available to both would be parents, not just the expectant mother, as should paid leave under any pregnancy loss policy. It’s the right thing to do and will avoid potential sex discrimination claims.
Team members should be sensitive about discussing their children or pregnancies in such circumstances, if the affected employee is comfortable with team members knowing the reason for their absence. Otherwise such personal medical information should be treated confidentially, on a need to know basis only and should be handled in accordance with relevant GDPR requirements.
Menstruation and Menopause
Recent case law has established that certain menopausal symptoms could amount to a disability, although it’s fact specific and everyone experiences menopause differently. A potential new and developing area of case law could concern whether certain gynaecological conditions, some of which affect menstruation could constitute a disability in specific circumstances, for example polycystic ovary syndrome (“PCOS”) which amongst other things can cause very heavy periods and endometriosis, which can be extremely painful and debilitating.
Employers need to be aware of these issues, so that they can make reasonable adjustments where appropriate. Adjustments can be as simple as allowing women to work from home and/or more flexible hours on certain days of their periods, if that accommodates their needs better and meets the business’ needs too. Small adjustments, such as better climate control, access to quiet rooms and clean toilet facilities which are quick, easy & zero/minimal cost to the employer can improve immeasurably the quality of a woman’s life who suffers from one of these gynaecological conditions or is going through the menopause.
High percentages of menopausal women leave the workplace taking with them their valuable skills and experience which have been honed over many years, which leads to a lack in organisations of senior level female role models and mentors for aspiring junior females, as well as an adverse impact for employers on the gender pay gap, a lack of diversity and a detrimental impact on their ability to attract more junior females into their organisation and to retain them long term, together with high replacement recruitment costs for employers. It may also inadvertently lead to a macho culture and boys’ networks which exclude the remaining females in the organisation.
If employers spoke openly about these issues in the workplace & created an inclusive culture in which women could, if they so wish, be open about any fertility related issues they may be suffering from or going through, and if employers equally made attempts to draw men into and include them in these conversations, as many of them will have first-hand experience of seeing their partners and daughters go through such fertility related issues, and some of them may have had direct experience of miscarriage or a still born child or a baby which sadly did not survive long after birth, female retention rates at all seniority levels within businesses would undoubtedly be higher.
I wonder how many junior women leave their organisations because they can’t speak openly about the reasonable adjustments which they may require during certain days of their periods, when their periods due to a gynaecological condition such as PCOS or endometriosis may be extremely heavy & they don’t feel comfortable leaving their house due to the risk of potential flooding/leaking which would be embarrassing and humiliating in front of colleagues & clients.
Recent research has highlighted the high percentage of women who leave the workforce because of menopause related issues, although that’s unlikely to be the reason given by the departing women in their exit interviews with HR. It’s likely that lots of younger females with gynaecological conditions affecting their periods could be leaving the workforce in large numbers too as a result and this could become an increasingly litigious area, as at the moment it’s the silent unknown, because talking openly about female fertility issues and gynaecological problems at work is still largely taboo, although these issues are starting to be spoken about more widely in the media, which is positive and will hopefully quickly trickle down to workplaces too.
How many women carry a tampon or sanitary pad up their sleeve when they visit the bathroom during their period at work, as they would not want to be openly seen carrying a tampon & effectively announcing to everyone that they have their period? I know that I’m guilty of doing that, but would we do that with a box of aspirin for a headache? No, so what’s the difference in practice? Why are we not embarrassed to openly state that we have a headache, but we are embarrassed to say that we have stomach ache because of our period? Periods and menopause are a natural part of our female fertility life cycle, so why should we be embarrassed of things that our bodies go through naturally due to our gender and which affect more than half of the world’s population?
More work needs to be done to try to reduce any shame and stigma connected with discussing female fertility issues, in the same way that positive progress has been made to try to remove the stigma that was previously attached to discussing mental health issues in the workplace. I welcome a time when those who want to and feel comfortable doing so, can have open conversations about female fertility issues and how they affect all genders in the workplace too. Pressure should not however be placed on anyone in the workplace to share more information or detail about fertility issues that may be affecting them at work than they are comfortable doing. It’s a personal issue and individuals have their own unique boundaries.
Employers need to train their staff to ensure, as far as reasonably possible, that they are careful not to make unhelpful assumptions, that they do not use discriminatory stereotypes or engage in insensitive inappropriate banter. Assumptions should not be made that because a woman is in the wide age bracket from which menopause can occur, that she’s automatically going through the menopause. She may not have started the menopause yet. Having spoken to professional friends in their early 50’s, many of them don’t want colleagues to wrongly assume that they’re already going through the menopause and don’t want to be seen as hysterical, over emotional women. Equally younger women don’t want their opinions and ideas that they’re passionate about to be brushed off because they’re clearly feeling hormonal, moody or overly aggressive due to pre-menstrual tension (PMT.) Employers need to be aware of the risk of actual and perceived sex and age discrimination claims and ensure that their staff training covers this accordingly.
The pandemic has highlighted the importance of wellbeing and health issues, including fertility related issues such as menstruation, miscarriage and menopause and that they cannot and should not be downplayed. Staff value wellbeing and health related holistic policies and initiatives far more than financial remuneration and employers’ policies and benefits packages should take this into account. Employees who feel supported and can, if they so wish, discuss any issues affecting their work openly with their employer, including menstruation, miscarriage or menopause, knowing that support will be offered when they need it most, will be highly engaged, loyal and productive, thereby benefiting the employer’s business financially in terms of results and its reputation in terms of brand, helping to attract future female talent too.
Employers will have ambassadors and champions who will naturally sell their business to their clients and future employees because they will be proud to work for an employer who supports their fertility needs at all stages of their fertility life cycle.
Looking after your staff’s fertility related issues will reap benefits for your workforce and your business, as your staff will be happier and healthier and this will lead to widespread positive repercussions. A company’s staff is its greatest asset. Shouldn’t companies be taking better care of its female and trans staff’s fertility related physical and mental health needs and those of their partners, if they are adversely affected by pregnancy loss too, given the high proportion of the workforce which females make up at all ages & career stages?
Author
Michelle Chance, Head of Employment (michelle.chance@rosenblatt-law.co.uk)
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