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  • Case Study
    Health & Safety

Supporting a Workforce with Menopausal Health Policies and Action

Renowned for its commitment to female employment, Marks & Spencer adopted BS 30416 to enhance menopausal health support and education.

Testimonial

“The aims of our menopause awareness activities are to provide education, support and empowerment to individuals experiencing or approaching menopause.” 

Efa Bowen Colleague Experience Manager, Marks and Spencer
people in office

A leading retailer focused on supporting women's health and well-being

70% of Marks & Spencer's customers and employees are women, which makes women’s health a core diversity, equality and inclusion priority.

Whilst striving to be a leading employer for women, Marks & Spencer wanted to build a more understanding, inclusive and supportive environment for employees experiencing menopause.

The Challenge

Driving awareness around menopause

Marks & Spencer wanted to strengthen health support for 65,000 female staff. They also wanted to improve menopause awareness, manager training, and help staff to talk about health issues.

Marks & Spencer envisaged practical ways they could improve the lives of employees who experience pain, body temperature and fatigue related to menopause. Feedback from the occupational health provider highlighted opportunities for greater support and understanding for staff experiencing menopause, infertility, or baby loss.

To strengthen women’s health support, Marks & Spencer wanted to make practical changes. This included building on their menopause policy with support from the 3,000-member Menopause Network.

The Solution

Supporting menopause in the workplace

BSI helped Marks & Spencer to carry out a gap analysis and align to BS 30416. The comprehensive standard provided a way to approach the sensitive topic of menopause.

The practical advice, symptoms and checklist sections within BS 30416 helped M&S to develop reasonable adjustments for staff experiencing menopause and improve training.

The standard informed multiple initiatives such as colleague-facing guides, Menopause Cafés to connect employees with managers, and internal health events.

M&S was inspired to strengthen women's health support through future actions such as menopause-friendly spaces and accessibility, mindful of the Labour government's proposed requirements for menopause action plans.

Enhancing employee wellbeing, engagement, and productivity

The leading retailer used the standard's guidelines, best practices and checklists to:

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    Comprehensively identify gaps and areas to prioritize in women’s health policy and support.

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    Strengthen manager and employee Diversity, Equality and Inclusion training around women's health.

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    Create an internal menopause survey using appropriate wording and language.

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    Break the stigma of menopause and women's health, making female employees feel more comfortable.

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    Introduce practical solutions to accommodate for menopausal symptoms and discomfort at work.

Improving the working lives of Marks & Spencer's employees

Implementation of BS 30416 helped M&S to meet the needs of their workforce and customers, now and in the future.

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  • 70%

    of M&S staff are women; 25% are in their menopausal window, with 75% experiencing symptoms.

  • 58%

    of menopausal staff were managed by someone who won’t or hasn’t gone through the experience.

  • 98,000

    menopause-friendly uniform items have been ordered by M&S since aligning with BS 30416.

  • M&S achieved third-party accreditation and have longer-term goals for their Gender Equality Network.

Testimonial

“BS 30416 has helped break the stigma around menopause, menstrual health and women's health in general and make women more comfortable at work.” 

Levina Fowler Head of Colleague Engagement & Wellbeing
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Why BSI

Foster an inclusive and equal working environment

If you're looking to support and improve the health of your employees, we can help guide you towards sustainable success.

As thought shapers across industry sectors, processes and practices, we can help you embed transformational standards like BS 30416 to create better working lives for your employees, and demonstrate industry-leading processes to customers.

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