Should Healthcare Employers Offer Their Nurses Menopause Leave?

Should menopause leave for eligible staff be introduced in order to retain their experience within the healthcare profession?

Nurses and other staff undergoing menopause should be offered leave by the NHS when symptoms make it difficult to work, a women’s health Nurse has argued.

In August 2022, the RCN forum chair for women’s health advised the NHS to experiment with offering leave to Nurses experiencing menopause symptoms, insisting that such a consideration could aid the retention of experienced staff.

‘With the current staffing crisis and vast numbers of nursing roles remaining unfilled, an NHS organisation is an ideal place to trial offering menopausal leave’ Katharine Gale said.

‘It’s essential the NHS supports Nurses through menopause and beyond to retain their experience, skills and expertise and to ensure high quality care for our patients…No Nurse should feel they have no other option but to step down from their role because of a normal transition in life’ she added.

Do you agree with her? Will offering menopause leave to eligible Nurses result in improved retention levels?

Ms Gale’s remarks succeeded a report on menopause and the workplace, published the previous month by the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee.

In the report, it was estimated that 900,000 women in the UK had left their jobs because of menopause symptoms.

The report stated that “Women of menopausal age are the fastest growing group in the workforce and are staying in work for longer than ever before…Yet these experienced and skilled role models often receive little support with menopause symptoms. As a result, some cut back their hours or responsibilities. Others leave work altogether.”

The committee proposed that menopause should become a “protected characteristic” under the Equalities Act, much like pregnancy.

Chair of the committee Caroline Nokes MP said: “The omission of menopause as a protected characteristic under the Equality Act is no longer tenable, given that 51 per cent of the population will experience menopause.

Do you think menopause ought to be covered by equality legislation? And if so, how far do you think the law should mandate employers, both public and private, to provide suitable support?

In a survey conducted by the committee, over two-thirds of women admitted to a ‘loss of confidence’ as a result of menopausal symptoms and 70 per cent felt increasingly stressed.

The report also suggested that the Government co-opt a large public sector employer to trial a specific “menopause leave” policy (a theme developed by Ms Gale in her comments) and evaluate the scheme for a potential further rollout within a 12-month timeframe.

Caroline Nokes MP, Chairman of the Women and Equalities Committee:

‘Menopause is inevitable. The steady haemorrhage of talented women from our workforce, however, is not. Stigma, shame and dismissive cultures can, and must, be dismantled.’

In June 2022, NHS England signed the Menopause Workplace Pledge; a campaign aiming to transform the conversation around menopause in the workplace.

NHS England had recognised it was crucial that the NHS take action to prevent the loss of experienced and often irreplaceable staff.

At present, Nurses in England can take leave due to menopause symptoms, but systems of support are different across the four countries in the UK.

Encouragingly, the chief nursing officers for England and Wales are among members of a UK Menopause Taskforce set up earlier this year.

A government spokesperson said: ‘The government’s Health and Wellbeing Fund is helping expand and develop projects which support women experiencing the menopause to remain in the workplace.’

Will healthcare employers, and particularly the NHS be able to offer Nurses and other staff menopause leave given increasing demand and patient backlogs? And if so, would this be enough to prevent them otherwise leaving the workforce?

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