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[Candy Floss]

I know each woman is different when it comes to the menopause, but some women really suffer at this time.  I think, on the recommendation of a GP, a woman should be able to take 6 months paid leave from her work.  I know it's hard to judge when is the best time to take those six months, but just a thought - imagine if men had to work while they're flooding for three or four weeks non-stop.  It can be a bad time for a woman emotionally, physically and mentally and I think for some they need a break from working as well as coping with the change.  I don't mean someone being signed off as sick for a few months - I mean that it should be law - it should be recognised.

[CLKD]

It's not an illness though.  One gets paid sick leave and one cannot be sacked due to sick leave.  Contracts can be re-negotiated and help should be given in each Company.

Larger Companies have to employ a Full time Nurse  - I believe any Company with more than 250 employees.  But imagine the impact on smaller Companies if all the ladies had 6 months paid leave at once  .  It could well put some out of business 

[Candy Floss]

But not all of the ladies would be menopausal at the same time.  It's not an illness, but it is medical.  In reality it would just lead to employers discriminating against middle-aged women in general.  I know there is sick leave - but that's often much less than paid leave.  Some women sail through the menopause but there are those who really suffer.  I just think women's rights in the work place are still in  the dark ages.  I think the menopause should be taken more seriously and be recognised as debilitating which for some women it is.

[Dorothy]

It's hard enough getting a job without people avoiding employing you because they are worried you are approaching 'that age' and will need your 6 months off!  Yes, I know discrimination shouldn't happen, but it does.  And how are you going to prove that is the reason you are not getting a job?

My background is in horticulture, and it's an open secret that many large estates and gardens are reluctant to employ women of child-bearing age or give them further training in case they leave to have children.  Can just imagine what it would be like if it were a legal requirement to grant menopausal women 6 months paid leave!

[CLKD]

I agree that people do not realise how debilitating The Change can be, but that includes women too.  Surely that's what a Union is for ……… but many Companies do not access to Unions. 

My Contracted sick leave payment was full pay for 6 months, after that half for 3 months then a reassessment of the Contract.  It does depend on the size of the Company, the place of the Company within the World Market and to a certain extent, how clued up on ladies problems HR are.  I had to take time off College due to heavy, clotty, painful periods …….. and occasionally had to be off work due to various associated symptoms. 

At a time when ladies feel vulnerable having to take time off work and be worried about keeping their job adds to the already troublesome problems!

[Candy Floss]

Whatever it would lead to, or how unrealistic it may be, the truth is that some women feel like death warmed up during the menopause and they still have to work through it - and in 2016 that's got to be wrong.  The menopause is something that will happen to all women, yet there has never been any employment procedure in place for women who genuinely need time out.  It's a subject that has never been considered in the area of employment and it really should be.  Women can qualify for ESA and DLA due to severe PMT - why not something for the menopause?

[Candy Floss]

I just think the menopause is something we're all programmed to accept and get on with.  It's not taken seriously enough.  We all grin and bear it and keep it to ourselves.  Doctors dish out HRT and antidepressants when what some of us really need is a break, a rest, and the knowledge that our job will be open to us after we've had time away. 

[CLKD]

We don't live in an ideal World though  and I never got time off for PMT ……. I worked in the NHS then 

[Candy Floss]

You are all right and being realistic it wouldn't work.  It's not an ideal world, and as James Brown said "this is a man's world" lol!

[Kate50]

I'm in a traditional marriage or should I say old fashioned I wouldn't want to go to work and im glad I don't have to.  I know there will be ladies on here that will have to and I don't know how you do it.  I choose health over wealth always have done!  That's probably why I have no money!  Lol

[Mary G]

If the menopause was treated properly from the outset, then perhaps fewer women would suffer such debilitating symptoms.  The fact is, the NHS are not treating women properly or offering them the right type of HRT at the right age.  It is vital that women start taking oestrogen as soon as their own levels start to fall. 

Family Planning Clinics and Menopause Clinics need to merge in order to provide a joined up service and as soon as women approach the menopause, they should be offered the BCP or oestrogen (preferably the gel) to combat their symptoms and avoid overall health deterioration and longer term health problems caused by oestrogen deficiency like hip replacements for example.  They should also offer uterine scans for women at all these clinics. 

Obviously this won't work for all women but it would work for the vast majority.  The current approach is shortsighted and will cost the NHS more in the long run. 

[Lizab]

As for men getting on with life, this conversation has passed many times in my house:

Him: You do it. I can't because I have a backache/headache/flu.
Me: I can't because I'm bleeding from my vagina. Are you bleeding from your penis?
Him: Allright. You win. I'll do it.
 

[CLKD]

   Mary G

[Dorothy]

I don't feel ill in solid chunks of time either.  I can feel like I'm dying one day and the next day I feel fine.  Sometimes it changes within one day.  I think more flexible working patterns would be better than 6 months paid leave - I had a friend who worked from home and as long as she did so many hours a week, she could please herself when she did them.

[CLKD]

Flexible working would help in many situations: child care, illness, taking parents to Hospital appts. etc.; wonder how they deal with it in mainland Europe?