So what's the difference between a menopause policy
and a menopause guideline and which one will work best for your business or organization
in this video i'll explain the difference between a menopause policy and menopause guidelines to
help you decide which document you'll create to help and support your colleagues through menopause
we'll answer these questions what's a policy what's a guideline what are examples of
well-known policies in the workplace and what four key questions can you ask to help you decide
if a menopause policy or menopause guidelines are best for your business or organization
let's start by answering what is a policy a policy is a formal requirement and can be
required because it's in line with the values of an organization or they can be a legal
requirement and employees who disregard the policy may find themselves being disciplined or sacked
some examples of more well-known policies in the workplace are equal opportunities
health and safety that's relevant if you have five or more employees
equality and diversity discipline and dismissal and grievance policy
sickness and leave of absence and flexible working now obviously this is only a small
example of some of the policies that workplaces may have so do you need to have a menopause policy
currently a menopause policy is not a legal requirement and menopause is not covered
directly by its own law so if you want more information about menopause and the law feel
free to check out my video so why is a menopause policy important well acas tell us for employers
the menopause is a health and wellbeing concern for staff and needs to be handled sensitively
it's important for employers to be aware that menopause and its symptoms can affect
staff at any time being aware of this can help staff continue to do the job confidently
and effectively so what is a guideline well guidelines tend to be general recommendations
that are set out by a company or an organization they usually provide a good overview of how to act
in a specific situation where there's no specific policy guidelines compared to a policy are more
informal they leave room for flexibility in a wide variety of circumstances they'll outline
and strongly suggest best practices but as they're only set out for guidance they won't be enforced
but for all they can be informal guidelines can still play an important role in a business
and they can be used to help embed a culture of menopause awareness help and support
all organizations are different with their own set of needs and requirements so it falls to
each individual organization to make their own decision whether to go down the menopause policy
or the menopause guidelines route so to help you decide what will be best for your business
or organization there's four key questions that can help you decide menopause policy
or menopause guidelines the first question you can ask is what is the level of risk to your business
or organization now as i've mentioned there's currently no legal requirement for a business
to have a menopause policy not yet anyway but it's worth knowing the amount of tribunals
citing menopause are on the increase and they've tripled in the last two years alone and the cost
of these court cases is not just the financial cost to the business but there's also the cost
to their reputation therefore you may decide a policy is the route you want to choose
now a menopause policy can be seen to be more formal more enforceable and it does bring with
it a greater level of accountability and employees are known to follow policies
policies do tend to be taken more seriously and a policy can give managers in the workplace
more power to investigate and discipline unacceptable behaviors as well as setting
out your clear expectations for everyone in the organization the next question you might want
to ask is what is the culture of our business or organization because depending on the culture of
your business or organization a menopause policy may suit your business or organization better
or you may feel guidelines will be more effective than creating a more formal document like a policy
and if you then do decide to introduce guidelines you have your content ready to update and turn it
into a policy at a later date should the need or the requirement be there the third question you
can ask is how large or multi-layered is your company or organization smaller businesses or
organizations may benefit initially from creating menopause guidelines because these organizations
are smaller they can quickly outline their guidelines and share with their colleagues
larger organizations do tend to go with more formal policies they use them as their compass
to guide the vision for the organization to ensure they adhere to regulations and laws
and they can be an expectation set by a board of directors
and the final question is how will you spread the word about your policy or guidelines around
menopause well once you've decided which path to take whether it's a menopause policy
or menopause guidelines be sure to share them within your business or organization
have them in a place that's accessible for your colleagues don't have them stuck in the back of a
drawer or stored on a drive that your colleagues don't have access to so there you have a quick
description of what the differences between a menopause policy and a menopause guideline now
well it's over to you which one will you create a policy or a guideline let me help you have
comfortable conversations about menopause without the worry of seeing or doing the wrong thing
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