Top Dublin groups honoured for menopause policies

Dublin organisations were among the big winners at the second Menopause Workplace Excellence Awards, staged in the capital last night.

Top Dublin groups honoured for menopause policies

Firms throughout Ireland were honoured for implementing policies to support women battling debilitating menopause symptoms in the workplace.

Bank of Ireland was awarded the Best Irish Owned company, Aldi took the Best Large Business award, Coca-Cola HBC received the Best Medium Business title, while Guinness owners Diageo, based at St James’s Gate, won the Best Global award.

St Patrick’s Mental Health Services won the Best in Health award, while University College Dublin (pictured above) received a Special Recognition Award in Higher Education.

The awards, held in Dublin’s Royal College of Physicians, recognised businesses which support female employees as they battle symptoms including anxiety and depression, extreme fatigue and brain fog.

For the first time, men were honoured for their role in developing menopause friendly policies for their female colleagues – and The ‘Male Allyship’ award was presented to Lee O’Donoghue of Lidl Ireland in Castlerea, Co Roscommon.

The awards, sponsored by Irish Life Health and Astellas Pharma, are organised by The Menopause Hub Academy and Great Place to Work.

“These award-winning companies are the leading lights in efforts to make workplaces, whether global multinationals or small family-run firms, menopause friendly,” said Loretta Dignam, CEO of The Menopause Hub Academy.

“We were amazed by the quantity and quality of the entries submitted this year, which is proof that finally, the world of employment in Ireland is responding to the healthcare needs of women at work.

“Some women may experience very few symptoms of menopause and find it does not impact their working lives to a great degree.

“But for countless others, the experience is very different and can severely limit their capacity to work full-time, or work at all in many cases.”

One of the judges, Oonagh O’Hagan, MD of Meaghers Pharmacy Group, said the ceremony provided an opportunity to showcase best-in-class companies and to recognise and reward their efforts whilst setting the benchmark for other Irish companies.

Fellow judge and former Dragons’ Den star, Norah Casey, said it was ‘truly inspiring’ to witness the breadth and quality of the submissions.

“The commitment to fostering supportive workplace environments for menopause is evident, and seeing this growing momentum is a testament to the progress we are making in this critical area,” she said.

Earlier this week, a former Director of Public Prosecutions warned of the potential damage to business if women are forced to leave employment or have their hours cut due to debilitating menopause symptoms.

Claire Loftus said more Irish workplaces need to ‘catch up’ and implement policies to prevent a brain drain of highly skilled female staff.