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Good practice Imported

Menopause in the Workplace Policy Framework — Ireland's Whole-of-Civil-Service Mandate

Ireland · Dublin · See the Ireland profile · See the Dublin profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 67% 52/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Ireland's government launched a Civil Service Menopause in the Workplace Policy Framework in October 2023, requiring every Civil Service organisation to adopt its own menopause policy by mid-2024, backed by a dedicated support hub, eLearning and 'menopause cafes.'

end Q2 2024 deadline
Target date for Civil Service bodies to adopt a local menopause policy (2024)
up to 5 days
Unpaid medical-care leave available to civil servants per 12 months (Work Life Balance Act 2023) (per 12 months)
Menopause in the Workplace Policy Framework — Ireland's Whole-of-Civil-Service Mandate

Details

Maturity
Scaling
Promoter
Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform (Ireland)
Period
2023-present
Region (NUTS)
IE
Keywords
workplace policy, public sector, health, civil service

Context

On 18 October 2023 (World Menopause Day), Ireland's Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, Paschal Donohoe, and Minister of State Hildegarde Naughton launched the Menopause in the Workplace Policy Framework for Civil Service Organisations, developed with the Department of Health's Women's Health Taskforce and clinical leads from the HSE and the Civil Service Employee Assistance Service (CSEAS).

Objectives

The Framework obliges every Civil Service body to design and adopt its own local menopause policy -- covering workplace adjustments such as temperature control, uniform flexibility and flexible working -- with a target completion date of end Q2 2024.

Activities

It is backed by a dedicated CSEAS menopause support hub, a manager/staff eLearning module, and recurring 'menopause cafe' peer-support sessions, and runs alongside the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023, which separately entitles civil servants to up to 5 days of unpaid leave per 12 months for medical care purposes.

Results

Because the Framework works through a devolved mandate rather than a single enforceable national leave right, its practical effect depends on how thoroughly each of dozens of separate Civil Service bodies actually implements a local policy.

Conclusions

No government audit of compliance with the Q2 2024 deadline or of resulting outcomes for women staff has yet been published, and trade unions have publicly called for the framework to be made mandatory and more prescriptive rather than advisory.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k) — No cost data for developing or rolling out the Framework has been published.
Time to results
Short (< 1 year) — Launched 18 October 2023 (World Menopause Day); each Civil Service body required to adopt a local policy by end Q2 2024.
Staffing & skills
Developed with the Department of Health's Women's Health Taskforce and clinical leads from the HSE and the Civil Service Employee Assistance Service (CSEAS); each Civil Service body designs its own local policy.

Conditions for success

  • A dedicated CSEAS menopause support hub, a manager/staff eLearning module, and recurring 'menopause cafe' peer-support sessions.

Common failure modes

  • The Framework does not itself grant new statutory leave; implementation is devolved to dozens of separate Civil Service bodies with only a target date.
  • No government audit of compliance with the Q2 2024 deadline has been published.
  • Trade unions have publicly called for the framework to be made mandatory and more prescriptive rather than advisory.

Where it fits

Governance type
whole-of-civil-service policy mandate
Scale
national (dozens of Civil Service bodies)
Income level
high-income

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

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Data sources

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