The new guide aims to:
- Provide information to help increase awareness and understanding of menopause in the workplace.
- Give confidence to all employees in having more conversations around menopause.
- Ensure all employees know what support is available and where they can access it.
Having played a key role in highlighting the issue,
Tesco worker and Usdaw activist Helen King says: “I’m really pleased that by working together we have been able to develop a positive guide that will help support members who may be dealing with the menopause at work.
“This is a significant issue in retail where women are doing difficult and demanding jobs with little control over their working environment or hours of work. This will be an invaluable resource for reps, managers and colleagues alike.”
Daniel Adams – Usdaw National Officer says: “Usdaw has campaigned for better support and more openness about the menopause at work for a number of years and we welcome that this has been recognised by Tesco.
“Usdaw continues to campaign in this area and is holding a Round Table of union activists on 17 May to discuss the progress that we have already made and also identify how we can look to take this work forward.
“Working in customer facing roles, working nights, fluctuating shift patterns and a lack of awareness can aggravate menopause symptoms and make it more difficult for staff to raise the issue and ask for workplace adjustments.
“The menopause is a workplace issue and we will continue to work with employers on how we can support members through often simple adjustments to the working environment or working practices.”
Notes for editors:
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest trade union with around 360,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemical industry and other trades.
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter
@UsdawUnion