When a company in the male dominated finance industry calls on employers to prioritise women’s health, it’s clear things are changing.
City broker Howden has urged employers to do more to narrow the women’s health gap and boost diversity, equality and inclusion at work.
“Obviously, we’re in an industry that is generally quite male dominated, so that’s why we put a lot of focus on this,” said Emma Capper, UK wellbeing leader at Howden Employee Benefits and Wellbeing.
“We’re very much aligned to being inclusive employers and having a big focus on diversity and inclusion as a business. It’s really important that you’re catering to everybody,” she explained.
Research from the World Economic Forum and McKinsey showed that while women live longer than men, they spend 25 percent more of their lives in poor health. The report, published in January 2024, also found that addressing the women’s health gap could potentially boost the global economy by more than $1 trillion a year by 2040.
So what can employers do to make a difference?
For Capper, new guidance on menopause in the workplace published in February 2024, is key. The guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) sets out employers’ legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010.
The EHRC also highlights that two thirds of working women between the ages of 40 and 60 with experience of menopausal symptoms said they have had “a mostly negative impact on them at work”. However, very few workers request workplace adjustments during this time, often citing concerns about potential reactions.
EHRC said it is “essential” employers know how to support workers as the number of women experiencing menopause while in employment increases.
Capper said: “This guidance presents a good reason why businesses need to start to look at this and focus on this particular area.
“But just looking at menopause doesn’t go far enough. You need to appeal to all women at all stages of their life and not just those individuals having menopausal symptoms.”
Another important piece of legislation for Capper is the new right to unpaid leave for carers, which comes in on 6 April 2024.
“Traditionally, and probably still now, the burden for care tends to fall on women more than men. So that legislation change is going to be really good for women and address some of those balances as well,” she said.
From 6 April, all carers in employment will have a new statutory right to take five days of unpaid leave from work each year to fulfil their caring responsibilities.
Employers will need to review the policies they’ve got in place already in terms of care to assess whether they meet the requirements for that legislation.
Capper said: “There’s a few criteria that the individual you’re caring for must meet, but effectively it’s that they’re dependent on you for something. So it covers children, elderly parents, another adult that you may need to care for.
“Businesses need to review their HR policies as a first step and see what they’ve got in play and see if they’re meeting that already.”
Some businesses already exceed these requirements, she said. Employers that want to go above and beyond the requirements could consider benefits providers that offer support and education awareness, emergency child care or emergency care for dependent adults.
Factor in age
Capper said that more generally, employers really need to understand the different challenges that men and women have and how that evolves with age.
She said that providing employee medical support was a step in the right direction, but added that employers that don’t support anything else are failing to support everybody.
She urged employers to focus on women specifically. “Look at their journey, their struggles, look at how they interact with health and the different health challenges at different ages,” she said.
“But equally take the same approach with the men in your organisation as well. They have slightly different challenges, they also experience different things at different ages, but you have different barriers and different ways of interacting with different individuals.”
She said that men are traditionally less likely to go to the GP for example, so you may frame communication slightly differently for men compared to information for women.
“It is about being very inclusive, looking at what works for different individuals and tailoring your communication and the benefits you’re offering.”
For employers the benefits of supporting a healthier, happier, more diverse and inclusive workforce are well documented.
“An inclusive culture is about everyone feeling appreciated, everyone feeling valued. With that employee engagement people are productive, retention increases,” Capper said. “It’s that whole piece that comes together, so it’s less about one particular tangible impact. It’s lots of things that will feel better, will be better and, ultimately, drive the business forward.”
Returning to the issue of narrowing the women’s health gap, Capper acknowledged that employers alone are unlikely to solve it completely, adding that governments and medical professionals must also be part of the solution.
“But as a business, you can do as much as you can do to try to reduce that gap. The focus needs to be on what businesses can do to make that gap as small as possible when an individual works for them,” she said.
