What is a healthy workplace for women? It’s a question we’ve been asking since launching Women’s Health News almost a year ago, and one we’ve sought to answer in our latest special report.
Bringing together research, case studies, trends and other pieces we’ve covered on women’s health over this past year — as well as a roundtable discussion with representatives from different large employers — we’ve prepared a list of ideas within, How to Create Healthy Workplaces for Women, thanks to the support of Genea.
The report looks at how women’s health has taken a setback in recent years, due particularly to the pandemic. Periods of lockdown saw key appointments and checkups missed, while the added load and stress of additional responsibilities and other factors have seen women’s physical and mental health deteriorate, according to excellent data from Jean Hailes’ national women’s health survey.
Meanwhile, many women are still dealing with burnout, while the sustained shift for large cohorts of workers to do more home-based work has had different consequences.
In this report, we highlight some of the best ideas we’ve seen on the initiatives and mechanisms that can be pursued to better support women’s health at work.
We’ve noted the impact of sexual harassment, discrimination and disrespect. We’ve also noted the impact of stigma and silence attached to some common health issues such as pregnancy loss, fertility challenges, menopause, heavy and/or painful periods and endometriosis. And we’ve noted the responsibility employers have to provide safe and healthy workplaces, including by providing support for survivors of domestic and family violence.
So what are some of the best ideas? Policies that pursue equal pay and respect at work are essential. From there, we’ve seen how evolving leave schemes to better enable shared care at home (such as through gender-neutral paid parental leave), as well as fertility leave, menopause leave and leave associated with mental health, can all go a long way in showcasing an organisation’s commitment to their team members.
We’ve also looked at ideas such as training and working with “first responders” to support colleagues at risk of domestic and family violence, as well as the overall role of storytelling and having senior leaders share their own experiences to open conversations and ensure staff feel safe in accessing and requesting what they need.
Thank you to Genea for sponsoring our research. You can access the full report here.