Women-friendly policies: Are they availed of in the workplace?

Women-friendly policies, including fertility, miscarriage, menstrual, menopause, maternity and breastfeeding leave, are on the rise. Employers are taking a proactive approach to achieving gender equality in the workplace. But while many bigger organisations have introduced specific policies in recognition of the challenges such life events can bring, not everyone is availing of them.

When it comes to true equality, the reality is a little more complex, says Gillian Harford, country executive at the 30% Club Ireland, a campaign group seeking better gender balance in leadership positions.

“In my parents’ generation work and life were totally separate. You clocked in at a certain time and clocked out – no one knew about your life,” says Harford. “In my generation we started to talk about work-life balance and juggling between the two – but the modern generation now talks about work-life blend, where they are not separate for lots of reasons.

“We now see a change where we are far more open talking about lots of things we never used to talk about – previously taboo topics like periods, menopause, infertility and miscarriage. There is a greater demand from employees to help them be more open about what’s going on in their lives, whatever it is.”

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Harford says some companies appear to be responding to this shift by either introducing specific policies or revising existing ones, while others are at the very beginning of the process and unsure where to start.

“We see companies bringing in a significant amount of new policies, whether offering menopausal leave, IVF leave and miscarriage leave, or even specific living-with-cancer support,” she says. “We also see companies revisiting their own policies to ensure they are more inclusive, perhaps expanding their employee assistance programme or changing their wellbeing policy, while some companies are still on the early stage of this journey and not sure where to go next.”

But while many women enjoy the “security” of separate policies, she says, others prefer a more general approach. Often, regardless of policy, it can come down to personal preference in terms of women being open and honest about how these issues affect them.

“Some female employees may not want separate policies because it shines too much of a spotlight – menopause, particularly, can be a contentious topic when it comes to policies,” says Harford. Any suggestion inherent in a policy “that a woman of a certain age now has inadequacies that her male colleagues don’t have” can make women uncomfortable, she points out. “They still see themselves as very successful in their job and it’s a label they don’t want,” she adds.

Tina Raleigh, head of offshore wind at Statkraft Ireland, notes that while the organisation doesn’t have any specific menopause or menstrual leave policies it takes a “pragmatic and supportive approach” to both.

“As a woman, I have always felt very supported by my co-workers – both male and female – when it comes to these issues,” she says. The company, she says, recently introduced a training course for anyone interested in becoming a menopause champion at work.

“Having completed the course, I now feel like I have the tools necessary to support other colleagues experiencing menopause or even to someone who is connected to a person going through it,” Raleigh says. “I might not have all the answers but I’m definitely in a better place to listen and help signpost others towards other resources if I can’t give them the support they need. It’s great to be part of a team of people that recognise the importance of supporting women and families as they go through this transition and help lift the lid on one of society’s last taboos.”

Culture is everything

Raleigh says specific menstrual leave is not necessary, as experiencing symptoms associated with it is treated the same as any other health issue, “and rightly so”.

“We’ve all experienced those crippling period cramps at one point or another,” she says. “There are days when it’s difficult to move, even when you’ve taken painkillers and wrapped a hot water bottle around your waist. On days like that, resting up is the most important thing, so we encourage our staff to avail of sick leave. And yes, my female colleagues do take those days when they have to.”

When it comes to women-friendly policies, culture is everything, says Andy Prothero, professor of business and society at University College Dublin. She recently penned an essay entitled Me, the Patriarchy, and the Business School, which was published in the Journal of Management Studies. In it she describes a career punctuated with negative experiences, a lack of support as a new mother and dismissal of major health events such as a miscarriage and postnatal depression. With almost 10,000 impressions on LinkedIn and hundreds of shares on Twitter, the open-access article clearly struck a chord with a large number of people.

“I got so many messages from people and no negative feedback,” says Prothero. “The overwhelming thing people said was that it really resonated with them and made them feel less alone.”

In the article, Prothero issues a stirring call to action for “policies and practices which dismantle the patriarchy” but also simply calls on employers to “normalise motherhood”.

“We have seen improvement in the promotion of women to more senior levels but I recently read that it will take 257 years to close the gender pay gap. The difference is still so significant,” she notes.

And while women-friendly policies are welcome, the change must be systemic, she says. “That’s really crucial. You have to have policies but you have to change culture as well. If we have a policy about miscarriage leave then that’s great but then if there is a culture where it would be frowned upon to talk about any of your health issues – never mind something as personal as a miscarriage – then you aren’t going to talk about it in work. The policy is then simply ineffective.”