Menopause Symptoms at Work
Jan 15, 2022
Menopause Symptoms are beginning to be noticed at work. Signs include hot flashes, mood swings, brain fog, a lack of focus, and memory lapses. Many menopausal women experience embarrassing heavy flows that have them rushing to the restroom. They have their own Christina Aguilera moment. Do you remember when everyone saw blood running down her leg during her tribute performance on stage at Etta James’ funeral? [link]
You may not be on stage like Christina and having the worst moment of your life in front of millions of fans, but you have probably experienced a similar event while at work. Some work environments make it difficult to navigate through the day without the right accommodations. The corporate culture still considers the conversation taboo. Who wants to talk about menopause, periods, and bleeding?
Well, it’s like Déjà vu if you lived through the era of women fighting for pregnancy leave back in the 1980s [link]. Women are now seeking menopause-leave [link]. COVID may have delayed this because although COVID is tragic, it gave menopausal women the reprieve they needed. During Covid, menopausal women could work from home and hide their symptoms. Much of their work could be done via Zoom meetings, Slack, emails, and conference calls.
When women first entered the workforce, there was a belief that they had to behave like men to be taken seriously. That meant the navy “power” suit, hair pulled back, no emotion, and work like hell. Did you know back in the 1980’s women were asked during their annual review this question, “Do you plan on having kids?” To answer yes was the kiss of death and meant you wouldn’t be trained to climb the corporate ladder. Today this would be an HR lawsuit waiting to happen. A new era has emerged and HR has no idea how to handle menopause. Employers are skirting around the conversation during annual reviews to avoid any issues.
Menopause-leave policy is already being done in Europe and the USA will clearly have to follow Europe’s lead. Right now everyone is staying silent in fear of crossing the line with HR [link]. The conversation around menopause-leave will eventually be normalized because the same women who fought for pregnancy-leave are now in their menopausal years and they are amping up for another corporate change in policy.
Menopausal employees are not getting the support they need. It’s affecting their performance and hindering their success at work. It can affect their career trajectory. Menopausal women are at the age where they are CEOs of companies, managing teams and committees, politicians, principals overseeing schools, teachers in the classroom with kids all day, pilots flying planes for commercial airlines, and healthcare professionals in high-risk settings where running to the restroom during patient visits and surgical procedures is unacceptable.
So what’s the answer?
Written corporate policy addressing the need for menopause leave. Similar to sick days, how about a policy that allows for flexible time off and working remotely from home? Women should not be embarrassed to share with their employers, and in fact, the hot flashes and other symptoms have probably already been noticed. Once a company has a policy in place, it shows your female employees that you care, you want them to thrive, and you are committed to their future success and career trajectory. In return, you will experience a committed employee who will demonstrate a better work ethic and become a producer with better results.
