North Ayrshire Council recognises the importance of supporting employees and helping managers to navigate sensitive issues, we have over 7500 employees and over 5500 of them are female.
Endometriosis impacts around 1,5 million women and those assigned female at birth, from puberty to menopause. Although, the impact can be felt for life.
This means that the majority of those affected are of working age and it is estimated that the cost to the UK economy is approximately 8.2 billion a year in treatment, loss of work and healthcare costs.
Our new HR Guide on supporting employees suffering from Endometriosis can be found here.
The new guidance aims to raise awareness and facilitate the support of endometriosis related issues in the workplace for employees and Line Managers.
This guide also outlines the Council’s support resources while providing a framework for employees to deal with these issues in the workplace and how they will be supported.
The Council recognises the importance of supporting individuals through difficult issues in work in order to create a safe and secure work environment where all employees can feel comfortable and thrive.
Endometriosis as a workplace concern
Endometriosis is a workplace concern due to its day-to-day impacts. One in ten women in Scotland is affected by this condition
and considering approximately 75% of North Ayrshire Council’s workforce is female, this highlights the need to raise awareness
of how it affects employees in the workplace.
Although women of all ages can be affected by endometriosis, symptoms may vary as some may suffer very badly as a result,
and others may not have noticeable symptoms.
Due to this, employees’ symptoms may impact various aspects of work performance, attendance and absence and working relationships, as such it is paramount to provide appropriate and adequate support to affected employees.
Read the guidance for more information on the condition and the different support both in and out with the workplace available. For more information on Wellbeing at Work and the support available, visit the HR Sharepoint page on Connects.
What is endometriosis?
Endometriosis is the second most common gynaecological condition in the UK and is a chronic, long-term condition affecting
the day-to-day life of around 1.5 million women in the UK, or those who are female at birth.
It occurs when cells similar to those within the lining of the womb are found elsewhere in the body; most commonly inside the pelvis, around the ovaries and on the outside of the womb, although they can also be found anywhere.
The tissue behaves the same way as others within the womb and reacts the same way during a woman’s monthly cycle, breaking down and bleeding. However, there is no way for the blood to escape from the tissue outside the womb, creating painful effects including pain, inflammation and causes scar tissue to form. As well as affecting women physically, individuals may struggle with the emotional effects.
NHS Inform has further information on endometriosis on their website and have additional supports available.