Period, Menopause & Fertility Leave Learnings One Year On

In 2023, leading UAE-based communications agency TishTash Communications, became one of the first to implement formal policies for women’s health issues like menstruation, menopause and fertility leave. With a fully female workforce of +60 women and as part of the agency’s commitment to understanding and supporting the healthcare needs of women in the workplace, all team members are given paid leave for fertility and menopause treatments, and other women’s health related matters. A year later, CEO Natasha Hatherall-Shawe shares her key learnings with L’Officiel Arabia.

 

Delna Mistry Anand: What inspired TishTash Communications to develop and implement formal policies specifically for women’s health issues?

Natasha Hatherall-Shawe: At TishTash Communications, we have a ‘people first’ ethos in all that we do and we are committed to understanding and supporting the wellbeing and healthcare needs of our whole team. As a company, we believe that our biggest asset is our team and that a happy team equals happy clients and business success.  Our growth and success in 12 years, we believe is testament to this. Our mission is to support colleagues to thrive in the workplace and as a female-focused business of over 60 women, this means delivering on the unique challenges and needs of women and women at work; whether that is mums who want to balance their career and family, those going through fertility issues or supporting women who are going through menopause at whatever stage in their life that happens.

As a company, we had been doing a lot of the initiatives that are included in our policies informally for a long time, but growing up as a company and going through the ‘Great Places to Work’ process, made us formalise all. We chose to announce our new policies in March 2023 timing in with International Women’s Day purposefully to drive the type of meaningful conversation about women and equality that we want to see.

The women’s health policies at TishTash mean that team members receive paid leave for menstruation, fertility and menopause treatments, in addition to a variety of other women’s health needs. These include paid leave for employees to attend medical appointments whilst undergoing fertility treatment, including treatments inside and outside of the country (including egg freezing). Not only that but the time taken off is flexible and unrestricted.  In the year or so since we launched our policies, we have continued to optimise and develop them further to include other support not typically offered with healthcare relating to women’s health, including physio post birth.

While you’ve mainly received positive feedback, there are some who feel that this is opening the doors for misuse. What are your thoughts on this?

We have had a fair share of interesting feedback since we launched our policies, with the majority being very positive, but also some negative as was to be expected. Many suggested that our policies would be something that would be misused and taken advantage of as an excuse to take extra days off and avoid work, but this is not the case at all as our HR systems and data testify to. At TishTash, the total number of days utilised of leave across all categories in one year has been 12 (used by 4 employees only). So, team members do not abuse this extra allocation of leave, far from it in fact. 

Team members have on the whole chosen to WFH during these periods, rather than not working at all, appreciating they are able to be in the comfort of their own home.  The team have consistently commented positively on the changes being made, even if they had no need to take advantage of the benefit. It has had a very positive effect on morale and we have seen a surge in ambition in our workforce who are feeling empowered by the policies and flexibility in place.  We have seen an increase in creativity and productivity. Being able to work away from office and talk freely about these concerns has opened up creativity. 

The agency and its leadership team have very much seen this year as a test and learn period to understand what their team really want and need in this area. The low-uptake in utilizing the policy has made us more confident in its validity - even to the point where it is being discussed if we increase 7 days to 12 (considering women operate on monthly cycles). 

Positive feedback and sentiment from employees does not mean that the agency didn't come across any obstacles as we mentioned. There have been negative reactions and memes even since our announcement on social media. As an agency we chose to view this in a positive light, in that it got people talking about an important topic. 

 

 How do you see this policy impacting the broader conversation?

We have already seen a huge impact since we launched the policy with people who would previously not have been seen discussing this very important topic and opening their awareness around it. Not only does it raise awareness around what it is like for women to go through it daily, but it also allows companies to understand how they can support their employees therefore creating a better work environment. 

In terms of step change in other companies and the wider community, many companies contacted us directly to ask if we could share our policies, so they could try and implement some or all of them, which we happily shared as we wanted to encourage others to do the same. 

The announcement of this initiative a year ago has also resulted in us being part of a collective of companies and women who are hosting the GCC’s first-ever Menopause Summit which will be held in Dubai on 18^th October, which we’re extremely excited about.

We are creating strong partnerships with brands who also want a voice in this space and are meeting other aligned people and companies, which has only been even more beneficial to us as a business. 

Why do you think Menopause in the workplace is not discussed or given the attention it should receive? 

For the most part, there is still a real lack of understanding of what the menopause is and what it can mean for some women.  The statistics and reality of the number of women having to leave the workforce during this time are shocking and as a result so much amazing talent is being lost from our workforce. We also find that there is still some stigma around the subject but most of this comes from a lack of education rather than a position of not wanting to discuss it. The menopause is still a relatively unresearched subject worldwide which is why it is even more important to raise awareness around it and to continue to open the conversation where possible. 

Normalising the conversation around menopause will increase awareness and lead to other companies taking it seriously and creating a more inclusive environment. 

 

You have initiated the GCC's first-ever Menopause Summit, tell us about this, and what do you expect as an outcome?

This is something we’re really excited about as it will help really get the message out there around Menopause education,  which is a topic very close to our heart and one that we will continue to champion given that it is something that will affect 100% of women.  The inaugural event is set to take place on the 18^th of October at The Museum of the Future and will feature amazing guest speakers, both regional and international, who will come together to spend a day discussing and educating on this important topic along with a hope to erase any taboos.  

As menopause discussions are still relatively new in the region this will set a precedent for what the future looks like and we hope that this will just be the start of many more. Outside of the event, we hope that we will encourage companies to take this subject seriously and empower them to create an inclusive and inviting environment for all their female employees. 

 

Can we talk about any specific instances where these policies have positively impacted individual employees or the overall culture of the agency workplace?

As with all initiatives we introduce, we see the impact mostly showing in the loyalty to working at TishTash, overall happiness, and work productivity. We believe that these initiatives are the reason that staff retention sits uncharacteristically high for a fast- paced and ever-changing agency environment. The majority of the team have been at TishTash for 4-8 years, appreciating the culture and flexibility TishTash offers and choosing to progress their careers here. Our staff turnover rate is very low.

 

“The announcement of this initiative a year ago has also resulted in us being part of a collective of companies and women who are hosting the GCC’s first-ever Menopause Summit which will be held in Dubai on 18^th October, which we’re extremely excited about.”