Royal Mail has announced the launch of a menopause support campaign for staff.
The mail delivery giant, which employs about 137,000 people, said the Let’s Talk Menopause initiative was designed to make a difference to affected workers by raising awareness and increasing conversation.
The campaign has four main aims: to lead and manage with empathy providing a supportive environment; to raise awareness and understanding; to normalise conversations, and to provide education, information and practical support.
Royal Mail has also signed the national Wellbeing of Women Menopause Workplace pledge to further strengthen the organisation’s commitment to a step change in menopause support.
The organisation currently has around 16,500 women who are likely to be experiencing perimenopause and menopause symptoms. It has also created an internal Let’s Talk Menopause employee group to enable colleagues to network with each other.
Zareena Brown, chief people officer at Royal Mail, said: “We are committed to supporting the health and wellbeing of all of our colleagues at all stages of their life.
"I’m very proud to say that we already have very supportive policies and approaches in place for employees with menopause symptoms and we are now strengthening our support even further to ensure that no woman feels they cannot fulfil their work ambitions.
“We are launching a new campaign to get more of our colleagues talking about menopause and have formed a working group with both women and men that have created a comprehensive package of options to ensure we are providing our colleagues with as much support as possible.
"Under the banner of Let’s Talk Menopause, we will be normalising the conversation about menopause, raising awareness and providing greater education and support.”
Research published earlier this year showed that 73% of women experiencing the menopause do not feel able to talk openly about their symptoms with colleagues.
