In this video i'm going to be talking about what reasonable adjustments are how to identify
what reasonable adjustments you can make to help with menopause symptoms what menopause
symptoms to be most aware of that you may be required to make reasonable adjustments around
so what is a reasonable adjustment well employers have a duty to make reasonable adjustments
for disabled workers failure to do so would place the disabled worker at a substantial
disadvantage compared to non-disabled workers employers must not treat employees less favorably
than others as a result of a disability now in some circumstances menopausal symptoms
may meet the equality act definition of disability so what then is the definition of disability
under the quality act 2010 well the act says you're disabled under the equality act 2010 if you
have a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term negative effect on your
ability to do normal daily activities what does substantial and long-term mean substantial is more
than minor or trivial for example it might take much longer than it usually would to complete
a daily task long term means the impact is for 12 months or more how do you identify what reasonable
adjustments to make around menopause symptoms well through your risk assessment you can identify
what in the workplace could be responsible for making perimenopause and menopause
symptoms worse so it makes sense to know then what menopause symptoms are likely to be made worse
in the workplace well there are five main symptoms they are sleep disruption
and or night sweats hot flushes and or daytime sweats heavy or irregular periods
headaches and fatigue muscular aches and bone and joint pain so let's look
at these symptoms individually and consider what reasonable adjustments can be provided
so sleep disruption and or night sweats you could recognize that someone may like to take more
short term absence if they've had a difficult night you could also consider a change to their
shift pattern or the ability to swap shifts on a temporary basis consider being more flexible
around the working day ensure employees know that they can work from home on an ad hoc basis
if they've had a rough night hot flushes and or daytime sweats you could look at ways to cool
the working environment for example providing a desk fan or moving a desk closer to a window or
adjusting the air conditioning consider providing easier access to cold drinking water washrooms and
toilets now many uniforms are made from man-made materials so to improve comfort consider changing
uniforms so they're made from more natural materials if your place of work requires
protective equipment to be worn such as face masks you could look to limit the time that the
person wears them obviously this will be subject to any covered secure measures that are required
heavy or irregular periods you could provide easier access to washrooms and toilet facilities
allow for more frequent breaks to go to the toilet be understanding about someone working from home
if they have very heavy bleeding provide sanitary products in toilets and washrooms and make it easy
to request extra uniforms or just provide more if required headaches and fatigue you can consider
a temporary adjustment to someone's work duties provide them with a quieter area to work
provide access to a restroom provide easy access to cold drinking water
perhaps allow more regular breaks and give them opportunities to take medication if they need to
and if possible give them the opportunity to work from home muscular aches bones and
joint pain you can make any necessary temporary adjustments by reviewing your risk assessments
and looking at work schedules now if it helps someone to move around more or to stay more mobile
then give them that option so when it comes to making reasonable adjustments and knowing what
reasonable adjustments you may have to consider it's worthwhile within your risk assessment
including the impact of the temperature and ventilation in your workplace
the materials used in any uniform or corporate clothing that you provide
and looking at how available toilet access is and access to cold drinking water let me help you have
comfortable conversations about menopause without the worry of saying or doing the wrong thing
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