Four out of 10 women (42%) say they do not feel comfortable discussing health issues with their manager, with many struggling to balance work with periods, pregnancy and the menopause, research has argued.
This lack of support in the workplace serves to highlight why the UK is losing 150 million working days each year because of poor women’s health, the analysis by health provider Benenden Health has concluded.
As many as four out of 10 women (42%) have heard derogatory comments from colleagues about a female employee’s health in the workplace.
More than two-thirds of female employees (70%) have found it “challenging” dealing with periods at work, while 62% have struggled with pregnancy in the workplace and 64% have faced challenges when experiencing the menopause, the research found.
Earlier this week, menopause guidance for employers from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) emphasised the need for reasonable adjustments where a worker’s symptoms amount to a disability.
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The Benenden Health research is a combination of a synthesis of existing research (with the 150 million days figure coming from the Office for National Statistics, for example) and the findings of a survey of 5,000 female employees and 1,000 business owners.
Drilling down into the findings, the 42% who said they had heard derogatory comments about a female employee’s health in the workplace also said this was often about women taking time off work, being ‘difficult’ to work with, or not able to do their job properly.
While 42% felt uncomfortable discussing their health with their manager, this changed markedly if the manager was also female. In this scenario, almost all (96%) of those polled said they would then feel comfortable discussing health issues.
The research also found that six in 10 business owners believe they could help to improve the productivity of female employees if women’s health was better supported.
Of the 62% who have faced challenges when pregnant, almost half said they had difficulty when trying to conceal a pregnancy in the workplace.
Rebecca Mian, head of human resources at Benenden Health, said: “While we already knew that a gender health gap exists in the UK, it has been eye-opening to see how this presents in the workforce with women missing so many days at work due to health challenges.
“Often, women are facing these challenges due to a lack of understanding about their health, so it is vital that we can help to develop this understanding among employers.
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“It is crucial that managers not only support their teams but understand that each individual will have their own specific needs and health concerns – and should be able to comfortably voice these experiences. Understanding and adequately addressing women’s health issues in the workplace is not just good for the employees, it is integral to building stronger, more collaborative, and successful businesses,” Mian added.
