BBC, Tesco & AstraZeneca | 600 firms sign pledge to boost support for staff with menopause

High-profile firms are among 600 UK-based companies to have signed a pledge to make workplaces more supportive for staff going through menopause, The Times reports.

The Wellbeing of Women charity launched the Workplace Menopause Pledge after calls from the Countess of Wessex, one of the charity’s patrons, spoke out about the “tragic” effect that menopause can have on women’s careers, as employers were urged to do more to help.

According to the Trade Union Congress (TUC), nine out of ten workers felt that the menopause affected their working life. And data gathered by the campaign’s organisers, Wellbeing of Women, found that around 900,000 women have quit their jobs because of the menopause.

The charity warns that, without proper workplace support for women, symptoms of menopause such as anxiety, brain fog, fatigue, poor memory, hot flushes, and irregular and heavy bleeding can lead to: