Menopause and the built environment: how can employers better support women?
Posted on: 18 October, 2024
If industries like construction want to improve female representation, they need to create an environment where women experiencing menopause feel supported.
Representation of women across the built environment is slowly rising. 17% of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ (RICS) members in the UK and Ireland are female, and they accounted for 18% of RICS’ 139,000 international professionals.
While these numbers are growing, they’re not growing fast enough. With 41% of the construction workforce predicted to have retired by 2031, a steady pipeline of talented workers is needed to ensure the long-term future of our sector. With women accounting for half the population of the world, there’s no excuse for failing to create a more diverse workforce, and we can’t afford to fall further behind other sectors in terms of gender representation.
Visit the Be Part of the Change page >
So far in the Be Part of the Change campaign, we have covered various issues facing women in the sector, from inadequate personal protective equipment (PPE) to gender-biased design and outdated stereotypes. In this latest article, we’ll explore the stigma surrounding menopause, and how built environment employers can better support women in the workplace who are experiencing it.
What is menopause?
Menopause is a biological process when a woman stops having her periods. It’s diagnosed after 12 months without a menstrual period, and is caused by the loss of ovarian reproductive function.
The exact age with which the menopausal process begins varies. The process starts on average at the age of 51, although many women experience it much younger. It typically lasts for four years (although in some cases, it can continue for up to 12)
Many women also experience premature and early menopause before the age of 40. The perimenopausal process, which is the transitional period before menopause where the ovaries produce less hormones, has many of the same symptoms as menopause and can begin at as early an age as the mid-30s. It can last up to 10 years, before menopause begins.
There are 34 potential symptoms of menopause, including:
- Memory loss
- Difficulty sleeping
- Anxiety
- Headaches or migraines
- Depression
- Change in skin conditions
- Joint stiffness
- Night sweats
- Palpitations
- Tinnitus
How does menopause affect women in the workplace?
Awareness of the effects of menopause on women in a work setting have increased in recent years, thanks to research into its impacts. As the Women’s Health Concern notes, some of the most common difficulties menopausal women face at work include:
- Poor concentration
- Tiredness
- Memory loss
- Depression
- Low confidence
However, along with suffering from the symptoms of menopause, women have had to deal with the stigma surrounding it, too. 1 in 10 women aged 45-55 have left their jobs due to menopausal symptoms and a lack of support in the workplace. What’s more, 14% of women in this age group had reduced their hours and 85% had not applied for a promotion because of their symptoms.
Learn more: What women do matters: a Q&A with UCEM Student Candace O’Brian
Menopause and the built environment
When it comes to the built environment, approximately 74,000 women working in the construction industry were between the ages of 45 and 54 in 2021. This statistic only covers one industry in the sector, but illustrates that a significant number of women in the sector are likely experiencing these symptoms.
The symptoms of menopause also act as a barrier preventing women from entering the sector in the first place as gender-related issues in the built environment risk further exacerbating their symptoms, including:
- Inflexible working practices
- Poor on-site facilities
- Ill-fitting PPE and workwear
- Inadequate workplace policies
Learn more: Could flexible working be the key to greater diversity in construction?
How built environment employers can support women suffering from menopause
There are numerous ways employers can support women and men to understand menopause symptoms. The Chartered Institute of Professional Development (CIPD) list the following dos and don’ts in its advice:
Do: Conduct research to understand menopause
To adequately support staff experiencing menopause, it’s important to have a good understanding of its symptoms. This will mean you’re better equipped to offer guidance, make adjustments and point them in the right direction if they need further assistance.
Don’t: Offer medical advice – suggest relevant support instead
Managers can offer guidance and provide support, but they should steer clear of offering medical advice if they don’t have any sort of experience or qualifications in this area. If employees are suffering with their symptoms, it’s better to point them in direction of relevant support services.
Do: Talk about menopause
While it can seem like an uncomfortable topic, it’s important to create an environment where your employees feel open and free to discuss it with you. A lack of support is one of the reasons many women experiencing menopause leave work, so being able to talk about it with your employees is crucial.
Don’t: Shy away from the topic
Talking to people experiencing menopause can help to reduce symptoms like stress, low mood and anxiety, according to research. With work taking up a significant chunk of our daily lives, being able to discuss it in this environment can be of huge importance for women suffering from menopause.
Do: Make adjustments to work environments and patterns
Menopause can lead to sickness absence and impact job performance, and the stress and anxiety this creates can make the symptoms of menopause even more difficult to deal with. To counteract this, employers should consider offering to make adjustments to work patterns and allow for flexibility, so that women experiencing menopause are still able to perform in their role.
Don’t: Focus on the problem – focus on solutions instead
As a natural, lengthy process that the majority of women experience, it’s not worth focusing on the problem so much as discussing potential solutions. With low confidence and depression among the common effects of menopause, maintaining a positive attitude can actually help alleviate symptoms.
Do: Keep an open mind and be flexible
The rise of remote working has shown us that flexible work models are a viable option and, in many cases, beneficial for employer and employee alike. When supporting a menopausal employee, keeping an open mind when discussing solutions can help reassure.
Don’t: Share personal information without consent
As with any medical issue or condition, any information shared with you by an employee should be treated confidentially, and not shared or publicised without their consent.
Do: Offer risk assessments
Conducting a risk assessment can help identify workplace factors that could exacerbate the symptoms of menopause. In many countries, this also falls under a legal duty of care to ensure the health and safety of employees.
Don’t: Address poor performance without addressing health issues
When dealing with performance issues, it’s important to recognise that personal and health problems could be the root cause. If this is the case, you’ll need to change the way you address the situation and support the employee. Could add in ‘talk to your HR team/HR rep if you need advice on this’?
Final thoughts
Awareness and understanding of the symptoms of menopause is rising, but the stigma around the process still remains. By conducting research into the symptoms and creating safe, flexible working environments for women, we can remove another significant barrier holding back female representation in the sector and take a step closer to becoming an inclusive environment for all.
Going forward, UCEM wants to make tangible commitments and increase knowledge to support women with menopause symptoms by:
- Publishing information about what menopause is and introducing Thrive, which includes menopause flyers, posters, videos, advice for supporting others, symptoms information and relaxation treatment suggestions: Menopause – Content Hub
- Creating a safe environment where it’s safe to raise issues by speaking about menopause more, coaching line managers, implementing return to work forms after absence and giving staff the opportunity to discuss symptoms and potential workplace adjustments that may be needed.
- Finding ways to try to help, such as introducing a new Health and Wellbeing policy for additional general support, resources and further information.
Further key resources for workplaces looking to discuss the menopause or on implementing policies can be found below:
- The menopause at work: guidance for people managers | CIPD
- Should employers adopt the NHS guidance on menopause?
- How organisations can support menopausal workers – and why they should
- Supporting staff through the menopause: Menopause at work – Acas
- NHS England » Supporting our NHS people through menopause: guidance for line managers and colleagues
To find out more about the Be Part of the Change campaign and get involved, visit the homepage. If you’d like to get in touch with our Student Ambassadors for EDI, email outreachandinclusion@ucem.ac.uk
