How you can help support employees experiencing menopause

Supporting employees in the workplace is an important part of running any business. We’ve put together some info to help you support your employees dealing with menopausal symptoms at work.

Embracing flexibility in the workplace allows employers and employees to agree on changes to working arrangements that suit them both. This can help create a supportive workplace environment where employees feel comfortable at work.

As long as employees are still receiving their minimum entitlements, employers and employees can negotiate ways to make their workplace more flexible. Enterprise agreements can also have terms about additional flexibility or ways to support employees that may assist where an employee is experiencing menopause.

Flexible working arrangements

Flexible working arrangements come in many forms and can include changes to:

·       hours of work – for example, changes to start and finish times

·       patterns of work – for example, job sharing or split shifts

·       location of work – for example, working from home or another location.

Some employees have a specific right to request flexible working arrangements. These types of requests have specific requirements, including how to make the request and how employers have to consider and respond to a request. Find out more at Flexible working arrangements.

Example: Employee is 55 or older

Shirley is 55-years-old and works part-time, 2 days per week. Shirley is experiencing a range of menopausal symptoms that are affecting her ability to work long days. She wants to change her start and finish times, so that she can work the same number of hours over 3 days instead of 2 days.

She can request flexible working arrangements because she:

·       is 55 years or older

·       has been working with the same employer for more than a year.

Flexibility not only helps employees maintain a work-life balance, it can also help you improve the productivity and efficiency of your business.

Read more about the advantages of taking a best practice approach to flexible working arrangements in our guide for managers and employers.

Paid sick and carer’s leave

All employees except casuals are entitled to paid sick and carer's leave (this entitlement comes from the National Employment Standards). An employee can take paid sick leave when they can't work because of a personal illness or injury. This could include if an employee can’t work because of an illness or injury arising from perimenopause or menopause.

Example: Taking paid sick leave

Fiona is a full-time senior accounts manager in an advertising firm. She’s currently experiencing severe dizziness and joint pains associated with menopause. This is affecting her ability to work.

She speaks to her doctor who determines that Fiona isn’t fit for work and recommends that Fiona take 2 weeks off work while she manages her symptoms.

Fiona has an accumulated sick leave balance of more than 8 weeks. She provides her employer with a medical certificate to cover the 2 weeks of leave.

Follow the links to learn more about flexible working arrangements and paid sick and carer’s leave. Looking for more info about your workplace rights and obligations? Visit our website or leave us a comment below.