Symcor Inc. is supporting employees going through menopause and perimenopause with a comprehensive benefits offering and ongoing employee education initiatives.
On Sept. 16, the employer will host a session on women’s health featuring presentations by Chameli Naraine, former president and chief executive officer of Symcor and Janet Ko, president and co-founder of the Menopause Foundation of Canada. The session will focus on breaking taboos and understanding the workplace impact of menopause while exploring practical strategies for support among individual employees, leaders and teams.
Read: HOOPP providing menopause-inclusive workplace through benefits, tackling stigma
The session is the culmination of an awareness campaign that began in August, focusing on women’s health and menopause and featuring virtual events, quizzes and contests, says JP Donnelly, manager of total well-being at Symcor. “These activities sparked dialogue, raised awareness and created a more supportive environment for employees at every stage of life.”
The impact of menopause on women’s careers is substantial. A 2024 report by Sun Life Financial Inc. found two-thirds (60 per cent) of working women believe health issues around menstruation, menopause and reproductive health can affect their career advancement abilities, while one in 10 (10 per cent) said they’ve left their job or were planning to because of menopausal symptoms.
Similarly, a 2024 survey by the Women’s Health Research Institute, in collaboration with the B.C. Women’s Health Foundation and Pacific Blue Cross, found a third (32 per cent) of women employees in British Columbia said menopause symptoms impact their job in some way. A tenth (9.4 per cent) said they had to turn down a job promotion or career advancement due to menopause symptoms.
In addition to raising awareness through employee education, the company’s benefits program supports employees going through menopause and perimenopause, says Rachel Wong, Symcor’s vice-president of total rewards and human resources technology.
“[Menopause] has been researched and discussed a lot lately and that inspired my team and myself to see if we can offer some resources and conversation starters to employees and communicate the relevant offerings that we have. I’m a big advocate of our employee assistance program, which is a resource that we often encourage employees to use.”
In addition to raising awareness among female employees, she say it’s also important to engage their male colleagues and leaders to be a part of this conversation.
“Menopause affects the workplace as a whole and building understanding across all employees makes the support stronger. With close to half of our workforce being women, it’s vital that we stand behind them through every stage of their physical and mental well-being.”
Read: 32% of B.C. women say menopause symptoms impact their job in some way: survey