Krystal Wilkinson of Manchester Metropolitan University examines why all too often women’s health isn’t being taken seriously in the workplace, and asks what can be done about it
Whatever their purpose or sector, it’s down to employers to ensure their people can perform to the full extent of their abilities. But for many women, shortfalls in policy and practice leave them without adequate information, acknowledgement, or support around common health issues.
With the exception of pregnancy and maternity, which employers have long had legal responsibilities to acknowledge and support, women’s reproductive health issues have largely been missing from most employer radars. This is connected to broader cultural narratives around women’s health issues being private and even taboo – think of the euphemisms used for menstruation and women discreetly hiding tampons up their sleeves to walk across the office.
The tide seems to be turning with respect to menopause, connected to a broader social “menopause revolution” (i.e. celebrity advocacy from the likes of Davina McCall and Mariella Frosfrup), but other women’s and reproductive health issues are still notably absent from most organisational wellbeing agendas.
Acknowledging maternal mental health
The ‘2023 Health and Wellbeing at Work’ survey from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development highlighted that whilst 46% of organisations offered policies or provisions focused on menopause to a large or moderate extent, only 37% did so for pregnancy loss, 26% for fertility issues, and just 17% for menstrual health.
The just-released 2025 survey shows an improvement in each area, with menopause and pregnancy loss provisions now evident in 55% of companies, potentially linked to attention on these areas in forthcoming employment legislation. An issue still not covered in the survey, but affecting one in five women is perinatal (pregnancy and post-birth) mental health.
This issue is overlooked in most organisations, despite being the most common complication of maternity journeys, and suicide being the leading cause of maternal death in the first year post-birth. This significant workplace omission is being highlighted by the Maternal Mental Health Alliance and PANDAS Foundation charities in their new provision – aptly named The Parent Gap.
Lack of appropriate policies and provisions can have significant consequences – for both employees and organisations. At the Centre for Decent Work and Productivity at Manchester Metropolitan University, my colleagues and I have led a series of research studies on varied aspects of women’s reproductive health in the workplace, including menstruation and menstrual health, complex fertility journeys, pregnancy loss, perinatal mental health and (peri)menopause. Common themes arise across these studies.
“Lack of appropriate policies and provisions can have significant consequences”
The consequences of a lack of provisions
For employees, where there is a lack of policy, provisions or communications about a health issue that an individual is experiencing (for example, painful periods, fertility treatment or pregnancy loss), they often feel the issue lacks legitimacy in the workplace and that they should keep silent.
Many employees take sick leave citing generic reasons, potentially triggering absence management processes, but others feel they have no choice but to “struggle on” through pain or discomfort, psychological and cognitive issues and/or grief. This can lead to burnout and/or decisions to reduce hours, change roles or exit the organisation. Those experiencing postnatal mental health issues might be terrified about returning to work following maternity leave.
Where an employee does find the courage to raise their health issue in the workplace, a lack of policy and provision contributes to a “line-manager lottery”, with variable levels of compassion and practical support. Sadly, our different research studies have highlighted considerable trivialisation of women’s reproductive health issues: people being told “it’s just a period”, that “every woman goes through menopause” so why should they need special treatment, or equating fertility treatment to elective cosmetic surgery. In addition to trivialisation, women can be met with hostility, ridicule and discrimination.
Our research has also explored the perceptions and experiences of line managers, who often feel a sense of responsibility to support affected staff, but feel they lack the time, confidence, autonomy and guidance to support staff fully. For organisations, the consequence – and costs – can be seen in terms of employee absenteeism, presenteeism (people attending work when they are not physically or mentally fit), reduced performance, turnover and damage to the employer brand.
Steps to support women’s health at work
There are a number of practical steps that employers can take to better support women’s health at work. For smaller organisations or those with limited resources, there can be great power in awareness-raising activities around women’s health issues.
This can be as simple as marking national awareness days/weeks and providing employees with information and signposting to external support organisations. This could be accompanied by information webinars and/or a personal blog from a colleague with lived experience. This sends a signal that women’s health issues are legitimate concerns in the workplace.
The next step in my view is providing practical support for line managers, as the stakeholders on the front line when it comes to employee wellbeing experience. Women’s health issues can be covered in bespoke manager training sessions and/or incorporated into broader wellbeing training. We have also seen considerable utility in line manager toolkits or guidance on key health issues – which managers can access at the point of need. Much of this is centred on the importance of taking an individualised approach, offering flexibility and “temporary reasonable adjustments” wherever possible, and signposting bespoke support. Larger organisations and those with more resources can develop bespoke policies, review benefit offerings and consider peer-support or champion roles. They could even consider a dedicated women’s health strategy.
Consult with key stakeholders
Wherever possible, it is good to consult with key stakeholders in the workplace, including those with lived experience. Here in the UK, we worked in collaboration with the Wellbeing Lead at the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust on their Well Women Strategy. We developed and administered two bespoke questionnaires for their employees on the topic of women’s health and the workplace – one for staff and one for line managers.
They incorporated findings from these surveys into the design of new provisions, which included three new policies: Menstrual Health and Endometriosis, Fertility Treatment, and Pregnancy Loss. These accompany the existing Menopause Policy, training for managers and mental health champions, and additional awareness raising. They also went on to curate a Men’s Health Strategy, which also acknowledged the impact of things like fertility issues and pregnancy loss on male employee wellbeing, as well as addressing wider men’s health concerns.
In conclusion, I firmly believe that employers who acknowledge the health and “life” realities – including needing assistance to conceive – of their employees, while fostering supportive cultures, will reap the benefits in terms of employee recruitment, retention, performance and engagement.
About the author
Dr Krystal Wilkinson is Associate Professor of Human Resource
Management at Manchester Metropolitan University.
Further reading
This article was first published in issue 2 of Business 4.0.