Today is World Menopause Day – the perfect opportunity to reflect on how far we’ve come in ensuring progressive leave options, like paid menstrual and menopause leave, are available to workers.
In developing our menstrual and menopause leave framework, we relied on data from workers in the UK’s finance sector as there has been no data collected from Australian finance workers to date.
We want to change that and close this gap!
We’re collecting vital information and experiences from finance workers on how menstrual or menopause symptoms affect your working lives.
This survey is anonymous and open to all finance workers, and should take no more than 10 minutes to complete. Individual responses will be de-identified and will underpin the FSU’s report on the experiences of finance workers. All responses will be treated in the strictest confidence, but we would love to hear from workers who are willing to share their stories anonymously.
Please ask your colleagues to complete the survey too, so we can get a broad snapshot of the experiences of a range of finance workers across the country and our industry.
Did you know?
1 in 4 finance workers in the UK who suffer from menopausal symptoms choose to retire early rather than ask their employer for flexibilities to manage their symptoms. Providing workplace flexibility and paid leave to assist workers in managing their menopausal symptoms helps keep older workers in the workforce for longer.
Half the finance workforce will experience either menstruation or menopause or both. A small fraction of these workers experience severe symptoms.
The finance industry has a stubbornly high gender pay gap of 28% and providing workers who suffer severe symptoms with menopause and menstrual leave may be one of the missing links to drive down the gender pay gap.
The FSU fundamentally believes that employers should provide conditions that allow all workers to participate equally in the workforce. Paid menopause and menstrual leave allows workers who suffer severe symptoms the support they need to participate in the workforce on an equal footing to workers who are fortunate enough not to suffer these symptoms.