Fourteenth International Conference on Health, Wellness & Society

Abstract

Women play an increasingly important role in the workplace, yet legislation and policy in companies do not necessarily take into account significant health and societal challenges encountered by 50% of the population. While the menopause transition is a natural process, which can last as long as fifteen years, it tends to be experienced when women are playing the most significant roles in the workplace. Women aged 45-55 years are often at the height of their careers which requires devoting more time and energy to their jobs. Menopause symptoms can cause significant issues for women to complete their daily tasks in the workforce if the work environment does not have policies and practices in place that allow for management of symptoms while on the job such as ventilation, flexibility in wardrobe, and ability to adjust schedules if needed. Added to these are the societal taboos surrounding menstruation and the menopause. The current paper focuses on a cross-country comparison of workplace legislation, policy and discourse surrounding the menopause drawing on corpora in the three countries. This includes Hansard debates in the UK, Congressional records in the US and governmental debates in the France, legal reviews and legislative discourse as well as union and menopause advocacy group documentation. Analysis of the three corpora highlights four major themes regarding menopause in the workplace, policy and legislation: 1)women’s health and wellbeing in the workplace, 2) economic incentives and imperatives of improving women’s health, 3) questions of equality and equity 4) protection against discrimination and harassment.