Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary said: “The menopause is clearly a key workplace issue, it is a health and safety issue and an equalities issue, which affects all women at some stage in their lives. People from non-binary, transgender and intersex communities may also experience menopausal symptoms.
 
“The number of older women in work is rising all the time, a trend that is set to continue as retirement ages rise and the birth rate falls. Women make up over half of the UK population and there are over three and a half million women of menopausal age in work.
 
“Given that one-in-three women in the UK are currently going through or have reached the menopause, it is shocking that there is still so much stigma, discrimination and lack of awareness about it. Usdaw believes it is high time employers and others stopped dismissing the menopause as just a 'women's issue'.
 
“Usdaw has made significant progress in recent years negotiating workplace policies with the employers. Today we have been able to announcement our latest achievement; improvements to the Tesco sickness absence policy, which help ensure that absences due to the menopause are dealt with supportively not punitively.
 
“On World Menopause Day and every day our workplace reps are helping members with the support, advice and representation they need.”
 
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.
 
Women’s Health – The Menopause: https://www.usdaw.org.uk/CMSPages/GetFile.aspx?guid=1ceef9c0-8be1-427d-acf2-c11440852402
 
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion