Employee Survival Guide® - Menopause Friendly Workplaces

Starting point is 00:00:00 . Hey, it's Mark here and welcome to the next edition of the Employee Survival Guide, where I tell you as always, what your employer does definitely not want you to know about and a lot more. Hey, it's Mark here and welcome to the next edition of this podcast.

Starting point is 00:00:24 Today, we're talking about menopause-friendly workplaces. The next frontier in the expansion of employment rights is the area of peri- and post-menopause. On June 1, 2023, Bank of America published a study entitled Breakthrough the Stigma, Menopause in the Workplace. published a study entitled Breakthrough the Stigma, Menopause in the Workplace. The report surveyed 2,000 female workers and 500 benefit managers on menopause and its impacts in the workplace. The study concluded employers need to embrace this important employment issue and provide more benefits for women experiencing pairing and post-menopause, regardless of what state and federal law provides. In 2021, the Mayo Clinic estimated that about 10% of women working in America ages 45 to 60 had taken time off in the last year in the United States because of menopause symptoms,

Starting point is 00:01:20 costing employers about $1.8 billion. In addition, the Mayo Clinic also estimated an increased cost of medical care in the amount of $26.6 billion related to menopause. There should be an expansion in employment rights for women going through this period of life, beyond what the courts and federal and state law have already provided, age and sex discrimination to be specific. and state law have already provided, age and sex discrimination to be specific. Employers need to create a menopause-friendly workplace and not wait for the law to catch up to the current events. The percentage of working women in the U.S. who are currently experiencing PERI and post-menopause

Starting point is 00:01:58 has skyrocketed to the point that today employers realize they need to implement changes in the work environment to accommodate this important group of employees or else risk them quitting. According to U.S. Census data, there are more than 15 million working women ages 45 to 60 in the peri- and post-menopause phase of life, and employers are increasingly responding to their needs as a cohort, which is primarily driven by profit needs. Claire Gill, founder of National Menopause Foundation, stated, quote, women should not

Starting point is 00:02:34 be embarrassed about the menopausal symptoms they experience or fear being discriminated against in the workplace because of them, end quote. You can read about the 34 symptoms of menopause in a link provided in the workplace because of them, end quote. You can read about the 34 symptoms of menopause in a link provided in the show notes. There is a great website called, for the American Menopause Society, it's called amenopause.org. The Bank of America studies findings in a snapshot.

Starting point is 00:03:01 The BOA study revealed significant findings about the perception and need for menopause-specific benefits in the workplace. Key highlights from the report are as follows. Number one, impact on work life. Half of the peri- and post-menopausal women surveyed reported that menopause negatively impacted their work life. Despite this, only 14% believe their employers recognized the need for menopause-specific benefits. Two, communication gap. There is a notable disconnect between employers and female employees.

Starting point is 00:03:37 While 76% of HR benefit managers claim to discuss menopause with their employees, only 3% of female employees reported having such conversations with HR. Moreover, 71% of employers believe they have a positive company culture regarding menopause, but only 32% of women employees agree. Gee, that's disparaging. Just in terms of the difference of the statistics. Employers are just tone deaf, I guess. Number three, desire for menopause-specific benefits.

Starting point is 00:04:11 Approximately 64% of women expressed a desire for menopause-specific benefits. These benefits can significantly impact the workplace environment, with 58% of women reporting a positive impact on their work when such benefits are offered. Makes sense. This includes making them feel more comfortable discussing menopause at work and increasing their inclination to recommend for employers a great place to work. Duh, that makes sense. Employers can provide their employees access to menopause treatments, such as providing virtual appointments to receive menopause care through companies such as Maven, Midday, and Pepe Health. I'll put links in the show notes so you can go through the links to find those companies.

Starting point is 00:04:54 NVIDIA, one of the biggest tech companies in Silicon Valley, an employer with an estimated 13,000 employees, now offers employees access to Pepe Health based on the success they had with their company's British offices. on the success they had with their company's British offices. Bristol-Myers Squibb has begun setting up a menopause support internet network for its U.S.-based employees. Other companies now offering menopause-friendly workplaces include Bank of America, which is the author of the study, Adobe, and Genentech. Number four, stigma and discomfort. The majority of women, 60%, feel that menopause is stigmatized,

Starting point is 00:05:27 and 58% are uncomfortable discussing their menopausal symptoms at work. I don't doubt them, and I think that's probably an accurate number given the current culture of work these days. Common concerns include fear of being perceived as old, 32%, embarrassment about discussing their bodies, 28%. I expect there to be a higher number for that one. Not wanting to be treated differently, 23%, and fear of losing respect for male peers, 18%. I thought that number would be higher as well, but it's 18%.

Starting point is 00:06:01 Now, creating a menopause-friendly work environment. Employers should implement a menopause policy that creates or clearly lays out what support employees can expect to receive during menopause. The policy should ensure that all employees understand the workplace adjustments and support systems are available to them so they feel empowered to ask questions. Such menopause-friendly benefits can include flexibility of work from home arrangements, which is kind of a new normal these days, shorter work weeks, which is actually even a newer normal, a four-day work week, access to fans and a good ventilation, an ability to control office temperature,

Starting point is 00:06:41 clean facilities, tampons and pads in the bathroom, and a quiet rest area. Employers can also develop office dialogue about menopause and encourage all employees to embrace this major life circumstance for working women. Cynthia Hutchins, the Director of Financial Gerontology at Bank of America, stated, quote, creating an open dialogue on menopause in the workplace is an imperative to correcting any misconceptions about women experiencing this life stage. Note they call it life stage instead of a medical issue. Well, that's another podcast episode. It can start with something as foundational as creating a policy about menopause and then communicate, communicate, and communicate.

Starting point is 00:07:24 policy about menopause, and then communicate, communicate, and communicate. Just hearing menopause talked about in the workplace can go a long way towards creating a more positive work environment for all, end quote. Managers must be prepared to talk the talk. According to the website Peppy, the following suggestions are recommended when a manager wants to have a conversation with an employee about menopause. Number one, ask simple, one, nonjudgmental questions. Avoid judgmental and patronizing responses. Speak calmly and maintain good eye contact. Give the employee ample opportunity to explain the situation in their own words. Focus on the person, not the problem. Show empathy and understanding,

Starting point is 00:08:06 encourage the employee to talk, and finally listen actively and carefully. All good thoughts and suggestions for having an open discourse in the office environment and creating a nice menopause-friendly working environment. The federal agency EEOC has not issued guidance on menopause. I was researching this while attending a menopause-related webcast, and I reported back into the common notes for the seminar I was attending that the EEOC, I said research on the EEOC website for the term, quote- unquote, menopause revealed no hits or information for employees and employers. The EEOC is the, quote, the federal agency charged with enforcing employment statutes has yet to issue any guidance on menopause-friendly workplaces, what the United Kingdom, which is really at the forefront of this entire menopause-friendly workplace movement, is just leading across the board, providing such a different workspace that U.S. employers are just chasing behind.

Starting point is 00:09:18 Menopause discrimination is significant, yet unprotected. Many women experience menopause discrimination often stemming from a lack of awareness and understanding among employers and colleagues. The experiences and surveys highlight the challenges faced by women going through menopause at work. Many women experience changes in mood, concentration, and other symptoms affecting their work performance during menopause. However, due to societal stigmas and misconceptions about menopause, even among women themselves, which I actually found out when I was attending that seminar, you'd be surprised actually how many women don't understand menopause.

Starting point is 00:09:55 These symptoms are often not openly discussed or supported in the workplace. This leads to discrimination of fear of ageism and sex discrimination. this leads to discrimination of fear of ageism and sex discrimination there are very few court cases because i looked it up because i am curious and thought you'd want to know um covering menopause discrimination as state and federal laws do not specifically protect women against this uniquely female form of employment discrimination obviously men doesn't apply to you. Women who have brought legal cases that reveal their employers have referred to employees such as the menopausal one, it was written in Spanish, I apologize, or to an employee working in a building as the menopause manner. These two cases were dismissed due to their stray remark basis not rising to the

Starting point is 00:10:47 level of being sex discrimination or age discrimination. However, in another case, the employer stated, quote, just some black woman going through menopause, end quote, was enough to decide the case in favor of the employee experiencing menopause. And I'll put the link to that case so you can read it. It's a year 2000 case from the Federal Court in the District of Columbia. In a famous case, Coleman versus Bobby Dodd Institute, Inc., the lower court ruled in favor of the employer who fired a female employee who, get this, soiled company property due to a heavy erratic menstruation related to perimenopause. due to a heavy erratic menstruation related to perimenopause.

Starting point is 00:11:30 In a recent 2015 decision, and it's called Massais v. Kravath, Swain & Moore, a very large prominent law firm from New York, a New York federal court said the court held a supervisor's statement that he was, quote, tired of working with menopausal women, end quote, was not enough to save a female employee's age and sex discrimination claim, even though it was connected to the context of their termination. I think that last one just says it all in terms of the status of where we're at today, that the courts are just completely lagging behind any efforts to provide protection for women above and beyond the aspect of sex discrimination or gender under Title VII and the 64th Civil Rights Act or under the Age Discrimination and Employment Act and kind of

Starting point is 00:12:11 buttressing those two statutes together to create some form of protection for individuals or women who go through menopause and experiencing, you know, discriminatory stigma and bias at work. So although there's a lot of movement and a lot of fem tech companies getting into the movement, a lot of buzz in the air, and you can read about it in the papers a lot of times, the law is just so antiquated, so far effing behind the whole process that it will take probably another decade for something actually to happen. But as you can hear from the article and from the podcast episode that the employers are not waiting around for them, for the courts to do something to push them or require them to do anything, because they realize that women in the age group. in the age group of comparing menopause to menopause, post-menopause are in the control group that basically employers need. They're the people who make these companies in the U.S. run and make money. That's a pretty large population. And what attracted my attention

Starting point is 00:13:16 to this episode topic, I've done one episode earlier, but this is really the driving force. But this is really the driving force. I hate to be, you know, how I do this, but, you know, a buzzkill here, but they're not doing it for women to make them feel good about it. They're doing it because of want to feel soft and fuzzy about the topic for women going through this process. It's about money because there's a large percentage of employees out there going through this age group experiencing these situations. And, you know, they're very vital and important to companies. So that is why companies are doing this. I just don't want to color it in any way other than that. That's what attracted me to the topic was because of the enormity of the 15 million employees out there. That's not a small population just to disregard. So that's why companies are now catering to them.

Starting point is 00:14:23 So there you have it. In terms of the aspect of have I had any cases related to menopause discrimination? The answer is no. If you want to actually suggest cases, please do so. I would be more than happy

Starting point is 00:14:37 to look into them, but I did some research as well and couldn't find any cases. But it's not to mean that there's not going to be cases in the future. It tends that the societal cultural moves happen first and then promotes the type of cases that are brought to court eventually. And I would enjoy not doing a case like this, of course.

Starting point is 00:14:56 But that's the current status of menopause and menopause-friendly workplaces. It's a good idea, but the truth is really behind the curtain, so to speak, that it's motivated by money, by companies, instead of just this good nature thing to provide a menopause-friendly workspace for women, which is a great idea. Don't get me wrong, but it's not the real reason why they're doing it. Anyway, as always, I'm telling you what your employer does not want you to know a lot more because I sit around and I looked at it and I pondered it and it just didn't make any sense to me. So I'm glad it's happening, but the real reason is driven by money. Take care until next time. If you like the employee survival guide, I'd really encourage you to leave a review.

Starting point is 00:15:37 We try really hard to produce information to you that's informative, that's timely, that you can actually use and solve problems on your own and at your employment. So if you'd like to leave a review anywhere you listen to our podcast, please do so. And leave five stars because anything less than five is really not as good, right? I'll keep it up. I'll keep the standards up. I'll keep the information flowing at you. If you'd like to send me an email and ask me a question, I'll actually review it and post it on there. You can send it to mcaryu at capclaw.com. That's capclaw.com.

Employee Survival Guide® - Menopause Friendly Workplaces

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