Menstrual Health and Menopause Guidance

Supporting women and those who menstruate to positively manage their menopause and menstrual health at work is crucial. This may be particularly true within health and social care where women make up the vast majority of the workforce. That’s why NHS Scotland have launched a Menopause and Menstrual Health Workplace Policy.

The policy aims to support employees experiencing the menopause and affected by their menstrual health to minimise the impact these can have on them at work. While the policy currently applies specifically to NHS Scotland staff, it is hoped that it will serve as an example of best practice to be promoted across the public, private, and third sectors.

To support the implementation of the policy, The Scottish Government have created two supporting guides:

Line Managers Guide – Provides guidance on how to support employees whose menstrual health or menopause symptoms are impacting on their ability to work comfortably and to enable line managers to promote good menstrual health and menopause awareness.

Workplace Adjustments Guide – Highlights the different symptoms and types of adjustments that could be considered for employees whose menstrual or menopause symptoms are affecting their working life.

While the Menopause and Menstrual Health Workplace Policy applies specifically to NHS Scotland staff, these guides are intended to be used widely across a variety of employment sectors.

The development of the NHS Scotland Menopause and Menstrual Health Workplace Policy was informed by research conducted by researchers at the University of Glasgow. Their study was based on the experience of over 6,000 women working across NHS Scotland. For more information on this research please follow this link.

You can follow the links below for additional information and resources on menopause and menstrual health.

Information and resources

Definitions and symptoms

Additional eLearning for line managers

NHS England have launched some line manager eLearning on Menopause, which is available to all and can be accessed from their Learning Hub. Just follow the link to the learning hub and create an account using either your work or personal email address. Once you’ve created your account and logged in, search for ‘Menopause’ and select ‘Menopause Awareness’. From there you’ll be able to access the eLearning as well as useful additional resources and posters.