The menopause is a natural stage of life experienced by most women between the ages of 45-55, yet it remains a taboo subject in many organisations. The average duration of menopausal symptoms is five years: not insignificant for a working woman.
Women often suffer in silence as they do not feel able to talk to their manager about how their menopausal symptoms are affecting them at work. Therefore more openness about the menopause and workplace support is needed.
An extraordinary 20 per cent of people leave their job because of the menopause, reports the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development). It found that three in five going through the menopause at work feel they can’t discuss it.
Very little is known in the workplace about how the menopause affects people with a disability, which accounts for 1.5 million workers in the UK. Even less is understood about working people who identify as non-binary and transgender who are going through menopause.
Experiencing Menopause in the Legal Profession
In partnership with Peppy Health, an organisation offering personalised menopause support, the Law Society have launched a comprehensive menopause support resource to help individuals and organisations understand the topic and the impact it can have.
- Read the resource
- Download the resource via Peppy’s website
- Webinar: Menopause in the legal profession
- Podcast: a chat about menopause
- Blog: Lifting the taboo: let’s talk m for menopause
- Blog: The M word is still taboo
- Watch: How race impacts menopause, with The Law Society
Research & Analysis
- Menopause transition: effects on women’s economic participation – Evidence review, covering 104 publications, of the extent to which menopause transition impacts on women’s economic participation.
- Menopause in the Workplace: Employee Experiences in 2023 (CIPD Report) – This report explores employees’ experiences of menopause at work and examines the type of adjustment and support that can be most helpful
Books
- Menopause: The One-Stop Guide, Kathy Abernethy, 2019
- Menopause: The Change for the Better, Henpicked and Deborah Garlick 2018
- Managing Hot Flushes, A Cognitive Behavioural Self Help Guide to the Menopause, Myra Hunter 2013
- Men…Let’s Talk Menopause, Ruth Devlin 2019