Dark Horses Creates Open-Source Menopause Policy for Everyone
Dark Horses has created an open source Menopause Policy that can be downloaded, adapted or improved by anyone to use in their own business.
The policy is not just for women going through the menopause, but is designed to be educational, informative and helpful for everyone.
One of the key aims of the policy is to give businesses the tools needed to allow women to talk openly and confidently about the menopausal symptoms they are experiencing - which can range from anxiety and depression to memory lapses, through to itchy skin and hot flushes - without it negatively impacting how they are treated, or feel they are treated, at work.
“At any one moment in time, there are up to 15.5 million women experiencing varying stages of menopausal transition for anything between two and twelve years.”
It is also designed to allow everyone to better understand how the menopause affects the people around them and remove the taboo around the subject.
It not only describes the science behind the menopause, but lists all of the symptoms as well as offering advice for those going through it to better manage their working lives, as well as offering ideas on treatments and support.
The policy also includes a section giving advice for managers and colleagues on how to make the working environment better. It has been written and designed in a clear, understandable and relatable way to make it approachable and adaptable for any business.
Dark Horses CEO Melissa Robertson, said: “There is a vital business imperative to other companies publicly and confidently adopting a menopause policy. Research by Bloomberg in 2019 showed that 900,000 women had left jobs because of menopausal symptoms. We understand that creating new policies is time-consuming and difficult, so we wanted to remove those barriers. Now, there is no excuse not to adopt a policy in their business.”
“It’s time to change the narrative of ‘the change’. For too long the menopause has been muffled in silence, misunderstood and relegated to whispered euphemisms. But when people read the policy and see how many symptoms there actually are, or why it happens and what sufferers are going through… for years on end, it’s like a light bulb pops on above their heads. So the more people who read this and act on it, the more comfortable women will feel, and the fewer we will lose from our industries.”
Robertson, who wrote the policy herself, had the idea after an article she wrote about her own experiences inspired a deluge of positive responses.
She said: “This demonstrated to us that there were a lot of people out there who were relieved to see this issue being openly discussed, who wanted to remove the stigma and improve working life for anyone that menopause affects. Which, in reality, is EVERYONE.”
