Menopause: women have to go through it, it's not a disease. This or something like it was the popular opinion in Britain. Melanie Porter has experienced that for many women it's not enough to have a few hot flushes. She lists her symptoms: “Anxiety, night sweats, hot flushes, but also memory loss, which I didn't even associate with the menopause, I just thought I was getting worse and worse at work.”

melanie You don't need to have trouble concentrating or have a bad memory. Melanie thought about quitting smoking, as did a large percentage of menopausal working women. However, the British cannot and do not want to do without these women.

He The CIPD, the Association of Human Resources Professionals, took up the issue a few years ago. Rachel Suff has been responsible for this at the association from the beginning and has contributed to the change: “It was a taboo subject in the workplace, now around 30 percent of companies in Britain have guidelines for women in the menopause. There are still many of them that don't have it, but a lot has already happened. We have worked with many organisations, with science, with parliamentarians, we have developed guidelines for our members, which can be found on the internet.”

The association's website is a kind of knowledge repository for HR professionals: information on the symptoms of menopause, how they manifest themselves in the workplace and what can be done. They also offer help on how to develop and implement guidelines for the respective company. Because this is not an easy task for HR managers.

“The complaints can be completely different – there are more than 30 different symptoms, some are more common than others. What we ask is that companies and their superiors choose an individual approach, i.e. first talk to those affected about the respective symptoms that influence people's health at work and then discuss what changes make sense, says Rachel Suff. We know, for example, that one of the most common symptoms is sleep problems – and that flexibility at work is the most helpful. And you should definitely approach it pragmatically – i.e. perhaps adjust working hours at short notice. Of course, this doesn't work everywhere, but when it does work, it is very helpful in dealing with sleep problems.”

Also The debate on menopause in the workplace has reached Parliament – ​​there are hearings, debates and working groups. And this year the government awarded the title of Menopause Employment Champion for the first time – the winner, Helen Tomlinson of Adecco, works with the CIPD.

Figures from a representative CIPD survey show how important it is for women to address menopausal symptoms at work: 48 per cent of respondents believe flexible working helps them cope better with symptoms. 76 per cent see an improvement in their situation thanks to hybrid working. For many of the four million women aged 45 to 55 working in the UK, it certainly seems that their symptoms and needs during the menopause are now being taken into account more.