Menopause
Talking to your manager about menopause
We know it might be hard to talk to your manager about how menopause is affecting you but your manager is there to help you be at your best at work. To help you both, it’s a good idea to prepare for your conversation, which will lead to a much better conversation and outcome.
Use the five steps below to help you prepare for your conversation with your manager and get the most out of it.
- Prepare
- Keep a diary of your symptoms and how they’re affecting you at work.
- Think about what practical, reasonable adjustments might help address these symptoms at work, being flexible and ideally coming up with some different options. These may only be needed for a short period of time while you work to alleviate your symptoms.
- Ask for a meeting
This means you’ll have the time you need and a private space to talk and will be more likely to get your points across without feeling pressured or overheard.
- Explain your situation clearly and what support you may need
- Talk about how menopause is affecting you at work, what you’re doing to manage your menopause and what your line manager could do to help. Of course, this can be purely for work arrangement purposes if you're not comfortable expressing your symptoms or going into detail.
- Discuss what support you think would help, e.g. reasonable adjustments and timescales. Or sometimes just knowing someone understands and is there to listen can help.
- Agree next steps
- Your manager may need time to think about your suggestions. This may be the first time they have heard about your symptoms, so allow them time to digest the information and seek advice if necessary.
- Decide whether you want the conversation to be kept confidential or if you’re happy to discuss it with colleagues. It’s your choice.
- Follow up
At the end of the meeting agree a time to meet again, whether that’s to agree a way forward, to monitor progress or update.
Menopause can be isolating if you don’t talk to someone but remember all women go through menopause at some point, so you are not alone.