Jobhop Jobhop's blog : What Can Employers Do to Support Female Health?
For employers aiming to build a thriving, inclusive work environment,
addressing the unique health needs of female employees is crucial.
Any workplace that supports and advocates for women’s health requires an understanding of common challenges, such as hormonal changes and reproductive conditions.
For employers, knowing how to get started and best support female employees can be tricky.
To help, here are three approaches to take.
Introduce flexible working arrangements
Flexible working arrangements allow female employees to work the hours that suit them and to take time off when they need to. For many employers, this may mean introducing a company policy that allows absences from work, or remote working, for people experiencing menstrual cramps or pain related to female health conditions.
Similarly, employers can look at improving their maternity leave policies. Allowing female employees to take additional time off during pregnancy and postpartum, offering flexible hours, or allowing them to work remotely can all help women feel more wholly supported.
Offer tools and resources
Many employers choose to offer additional benefits to their employees, like health insurance and mental health services. While this can be useful for everyone, women in particular can utilise these benefits to help cover the cost of procedures and screenings, like cervical and breast cancer checks, as well as other hormonal and reproductive conditions.
With 1 in 10 women experiencing postnatal depression in the year after giving birth, counselling provided by employers can go a long way in helping new mothers feel happy and comfortable when returning to work.
If companies don’t have suitable resources internally, they could choose to partner with nearby organisations such as charities. This allows women to seek the appropriate level of support when they need it, even if it’s not immediately available within their own organisation.
Open up the conversation
Opening up the conversation in the workplace by educating and training both employers and employees is key to supporting professional women experiencing health issues. Where the topic of periods was once seen as taboo, in our modern society, more and more women are benefiting from the increased awareness of menstruation, menopause and reproductive health.
Employers should aim to create a working environment in which employees feel safe and encouraged to discuss their needs. This could involve implementing policies that support open dialogue, like establishing forums or hosting workshops. Employers may also choose to collaborate with healthcare professionals to offer educational talks, to further encourage employees to get involved in the conversation.
Closing the gender gap
In most countries across the world, the labour force participation rate is lower for women than men. It’s important to close this gap, as every person has the right and freedom to work a safe and fair role. In some instances, female health conditions may be a barrier to work for women, if they’re not receiving the support they need. By increasing awareness of female health issues, and by employers doing what they need to do to bridge that gap, the workforce will become far more accessible to women across the globe.
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- Expert