Around 1.5 million people are affected by endometriosis, which is estimated to cost the UK £8.2 billion each year. HR can play a key role in reducing the cost of this chronic disease, says Julie Burns, manager of the Endometriosis Friendly Employer scheme at charity Endometriosis UK.
You might not know it, but you almost certainly have colleagues – not to mention acquaintances, friends and relatives – with endometriosis.
Endometriosis impacts around 1 in 10 women and those assigned female at birth from puberty to menopause, although the impact can be felt for life.
Symptoms include chronic pelvic pain, painful periods, painful bowel movements and more. There is no cure, and research from our charity, Endometriosis UK, shows that diagnosis takes an average of nearly nine years in the UK, due to factors including the taboos around menstrual health, a lack of research, and pressures on health services.
Multi-billion pound impact
With around 1.5 million impacted around the UK, loss of work and other impacts mean that endometriosis costs the UK an estimated £8.2 billion each year.
Even if you weren’t familiar with the disease, or weren’t aware of any colleagues having it, the stats mean that there is a strong likelihood that your organisation or clients shoulder some of that multi-billion pound impact.
There is also a strong likelihood that as HR leaders you will be familiar with the assertion – made by Dave Ulrich no less – that an HR department’s success “is not determined by what it does, but by what it enables others to do”.
Enable full potential
As HR leaders, you know that empowering your people and improving your organisation’s productivity go hand-in-hand, and fortunately there are a number of things you can do to enable colleagues impacted by endometriosis to contribute to their full potential.
There are three broad areas where you can act.
Firstly, you need to have specific policies in place to support those with endometriosis, including guidance for line managers on a disease which many people know nothing about, or might find awkward discussing.
Those policies should include flexible working, where possible, to enable those with the disease to best manage their symptoms. They could also include things like uniform – some with endometriosis suffer bloating, so may find that they are more comfortable being given a choice of different sizes or types of uniform at different times.
Add a few letters
Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, is tackling stigma and changing culture. Periods and menstrual health have long been taboo topics, but there is no reason they should be.
It has been fantastic in recent years to witness increased understanding of the importance of openness around mental wellbeing at work – but add a few letters to the word ‘mental’, turn it into ‘menstrual’, and you’ve got a very different picture.
It’s hard enough managing a chronic illness, and that becomes even more difficult if it’s one that’s invisible or that nobody seems to understand or give you space to talk about – and we know that many with endometriosis are repeatedly ignored, dismissed or belittled when talking about their symptoms.
Endometriosis champions
Many of your colleagues with endometriosis (and other conditions for that matter) may still be on what can be a very long journey to diagnosis. It’s vital that both those who have been diagnosed, and those yet to be diagnosed, feel confident that they will be believed when describing what they are going through.
We urge employers to appoint Endometriosis Champions – this is often someone with endometriosis, but it doesn’t have to be – who can play a big part in making this happen.
The third and final point, which links back to the other two, is communications – to enable a culture where employees are comfortable talking about endometriosis, you need to make sure information about it is readily available and proactively distributed.
This will ensure that those who want to find out more can do so easily, rather than fighting to be heard. It will also ensure that people access accurate information about endometriosis, which is important given how easily myths and misinformation spread online.
Endometriosis Friendly Employer scheme
As a charity which exists to support all those affected by endometriosis, we run an Endometriosis Friendly Employer scheme based around those three principles. It enables employers – who range from prominent organisations such as Bank of Ireland, British Airways, HSBC UK, People’s Postcode Lottery and South Wales Police, through to SMEs and others – to confirm their commitment to developing an environment enabling employees with endometriosis to thrive.
The scheme principles can be easily viewed on our website, because while of course we want employers to sign up and formally be part of the scheme, what we really want is for those principles to be put into action. I’d urge you to have a look at them, and recognise the potential to unlock extra productivity by making the 1 in 10 with endometriosis feel seen, understood, and supported.
Follow the link for more information about the Endometriosis Friendly Employer scheme.
