Are we pathologising women at work..?

Back in the 1990s I sat in an HR strategy meeting where we were updating all of our policies. The HR Director was… shall we say somewhat ‘old school’. When we got to the maternity policy his words were…

“Pregnancy is a woman’s problem and I don’t want to have to deal with it. Give them least leave we can get away with. Next!”

Now obviously this was a very extreme example of the discrimination women used to face and we have come a long way since then. It took a long time for the world of work to move on from when there were concerns regarding recruitment of women who had just married in case they would would quickly go off on maternity leave (and though it is rarely voiced overtly this bias does still exist…)

Now obviously this was a very extreme example of the discrimination women used to face and we have come a long way since then. It took a long time for the world of work to move on from when there were concerns regarding recruitment of women who had just married in case they would would quickly go off on maternity leave (and though it is rarely voiced overtly this bias does still exist…) Recently we have seen a use for awareness and support around menopause and progress is being made. But I have seen shoots of trouble ahead… murmurings of concern regarding recruitment or promotion of women of peri-menopausal age.

Sudden alarm bells and flashback to the 1990s HR meeting in a room in a soulless hotel at Heathrow…

This article about endometriosis at work and this one about menstruation at work are cropping up more often as we anticipate the changes to UK Employment Rights. But the reaction to menopause at work narrative is making me think we are not as far forward as we think.

We really must stop and consider how we mitigate the risk of pathologising women at work.

Or else there may be a surge in competition to recruit septeganarian women…