5 minute read
Should workplaces have a menopause policy?
Future-proof your business by supporting people through the menopause. We caught up with Tracy Michael and Kelly Marsden from The HR Team to find out more….
Some women go through the menopause with little impact on their daily life. But others experience symptoms that can last for several years and have a negative impact on their performance and attendance at work. A bad night’s sleep can affect concentration, while heavy periods or hot flushes can be physically distressing and embarrassing. The psychological effects can also impact relationships at work. For some, the symptoms are so severe that women are forced to leave their job altogether.
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Recent surveys have found that most women feel there is a stigma attached to discussing periods in the workplace, with over half saying they feel embarrassed to mention it at work.
Many women feel they can’t be honest with their employer about needing to take time off work because of their period. Almost half of all women feel unable to say they couldn’t come to work as a result of period-related problems.
There is widespread agreement some HR policies should be in place to make it easier for women to work while on their periods. Two-thirds of women also said they would be more inclined to apply and accept a job if the company had a policy in place.
Interestingly, “period leave” policies adopted by some companies in Asia have been recently criticised for reinforcing negative gender stereotypes of female workers and periods.
So perhaps offering free pain killers, hot water bottles, desk fans and the option of working from home if symptoms are severe is all that required in terms of a HR policy.
Whatever policies you implement, don’t forget that you have a legal duty to ensure working conditions do not exacerbate someone’s symptoms - and to protect employees from discrimination.
By supporting women through the menopause, your organisation will benefit from increased engagement and loyalty, as well as lower sickness absence and employee turnover. www.thehrteam.co.uk
OnBuy announces key partnership with shipping platform Easyship, to provide global integrated shipping solutions for merchants
New partnership will provide eCommerce sellers with a better way to ship worldwide.
Leading online marketplace, OnBuy. com, has announced its strategic partnership with Easyship, a leader in global eCommerce shipping solutions.
Since its launch in 2016, UK-based OnBuy has seen phenomenal year on year growth, amassing more than 7,000 merchants on the platform and over 36 million products. As the trend for online marketplaces continues to rise - seeing other retail giants moving into the space - this growth is set to continue, pushing OnBuy into new and exciting territory. Paired with the results of its recent £35M Series A+ funding round, OnBuy has developed a roadmap of exciting new developments. With platform enhancements well underway and a series of recent specialist and senior hires, OnBuy has set its sights on global expansion, and as such has been working to create a cohesive infrastructure to support merchants and customers worldwide.
This partnership with Easyship will provide retailers on the platform with seamless access to a range of tools along with omnichannel cross-border fulfillment capabilities that will support and enable simplified domestic and international shipping. As OnBuy expands into global markets, Easyship will be an essential vehicle for merchants’ growth at scale.
Cas Paton, founder and CEO of OnBuy comments, “OnBuy has exceeded our expectations in terms of growth, and we’ve been proud to serve each and every one of our merchants with unmatchable scale in the eCommerce space. As we look to venture into new markets, we want to bring our trusted retailers on the journey with us and provide them with the tools they need to reach their customers wherever they might be. This partnership is a solid step on the journey to global expansion and we’re delighted to be welcoming Easyship into the fold.”
Beyond optics across all shipments, the partnership will benefit sellers with a suite of additional fulfillment features including management of inventory, delivery, returns and thirdparty logistics. These capabilities will allow OnBuy retailers to sell and ship anywhere in the world.
Supporting the new partnership is Rob Evans, Director of Rarewaves. com, an award-winning retailer and one of the largest online retailers of entertainment products in the world, who comments, “OnBuy has been a tool for success for Rarewaves. A likeminded brand in terms of growth capabilities, we share the same goals and want to reach as many people as we can with our range of entertainment products. Knowing this partnership will support our goals, we’re excited with the possibility to grow our audience base even further and bring our brand values to new markets.”
The partnership, effective now, marks another solid step for OnBuy’s ambitious plans to reach unicorn status in the coming years, with global expansion proving an important milestone for the company. As the brand prepares to roll out new market deployment, the logistical solutions enabled by Easyship will be an exciting development that will appeal to a host of new merchants with international growth in their sights.
“The ability for any business to sell anywhere is significant for entrepreneurs who want to scale their commerce. Easyship’s international reach is unmatched. By integrating Easyship with OnBuy, sellers can now automate the movement of their products while leveraging discounted courier rates, pre-calculated taxes and duties, and a streamlined label generation and return software,” said Tommaso Tamburnotti, co-founder and CEO of Easyship. “We’re thrilled to partner with OnBuy to unlock even more markets for sellers.”
