Northern Ireland

New menopause policy for Northern Ireland Civil Service

Health Minister Robin Swann, Head of the Civil Service Jayne Brady, and Finance Minister Conor Murphy yesterday launched a new Civil Service menopause policy
Health Minister Robin Swann, Head of the Civil Service Jayne Brady, and Finance Minister Conor Murphy yesterday launched a new Civil Service menopause policy Health Minister Robin Swann, Head of the Civil Service Jayne Brady, and Finance Minister Conor Murphy yesterday launched a new Civil Service menopause policy

CIVIL servants experiencing the menopause are to be offered support under a new policy.

Women account for half of the 24,000 workers in the Northern Ireland Civil Service.

Around 55 per cent of female employees are over the age of 45, meaning many are likely to be affected by the menopause.

Finance Minister Conor Murphy, whose department has responsibility for human resources for the civil service, said the new policy aims to allow women to raise issues and ask for "reasonable adjustments if necessary".

"Equipping managers to provide support will ensure women can continue in employment and have their needs taken into account," he said.

Head of the Civil Service Jayne Brady said the body has recently delivered seminars on the menopause.

"We are already seeing the benefit of increased awareness with departments establishing support groups for staff," she said.

"This is only a first step for us as we want to continue to build on this progress through further guidance and the roll out of training to support the implementation of this policy."

Health Minister Robin Swann welcomed the new policy.

Last month, he attended the first meeting of the UK-wide Menopause Taskforce which aims to improve care and support for women.

"My department will continue to engage with the taskforce to identify any opportunities to improve menopause healthcare in Northern Ireland," he said.