{"id":1541,"date":"2025-02-19T14:46:35","date_gmt":"2025-02-19T14:46:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medischconsult.nl\/hormonal-complaints-in-the-workplace\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T10:45:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T10:45:26","slug":"hormonal-complaints-in-the-workplace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medischconsult.nl\/en\/hormonal-complaints-in-the-workplace\/","title":{"rendered":"Hormonal complaints in the workplace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

More than a third of working women keep hormonal complaints quiet in the workplace. This is according to research by CBS and TNO. These include complaints such as fatigue, headaches, abdominal pain, and mood swings \u2013 often the result of menstruation, pregnancy, or menopause.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Hormonal complaints are far from rare: 80 percent of working women indicate that they suffer from them sometimes or regularly. Yet 35 percent choose not to share these complaints with colleagues or managers. By comparison: with other health complaints, 24 percent of employees \u2013 both women and men \u2013 remain silent.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cThe pain is often so intense that women can barely perform their daily work,\u201d says Judith Huirne, a gynecologist at Amsterdam UMC. Heavy periods and excessive bleeding are some of the complaints she hears regularly.<\/p>\n\n

A listening ear is often lacking<\/h2>\n\n

Almost one in ten women who do not discuss their complaints say they do have a need to do so. A similar number would like to receive support from their manager. \u201cWe recognize that,\u201d says Huirne. \u201cThese complaints are still too often dismissed as \u2018women’s issues\u2019. As a result, women do not feel taken seriously and prefer to remain silent about them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

To make the subject open for discussion, Amsterdam UMC started a free consultation hour for employees. It is proving to be a success. \u201cWomen feel supported by this, and it helps to start the conversation within teams,\u201d says Huirne.<\/p>\n\n

Calling in sick or pushing through \u2013 both with consequences<\/h2>\n\n

Women do not just remain silent; they often push through as well. As many as 67 percent continue to work despite complaints. For other health problems, that figure is 43 percent. Nevertheless, a significant proportion also regularly call in sick. \u201cOften for short periods, but on a monthly basis,\u201d says Huirne. \u201cThat influences performance, as well as career opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Half of women with hormonal complaints feel limited in their work. This also occurs among other employees, but the impact of hormonal complaints remains underexposed.<\/p>\n\n

Call for an open culture regarding hormonal complaints<\/h2>\n\n

According to CBS and TNO, employers can achieve significant gains by encouraging an open work culture in which there is room for hormonal complaints. Specific reference is made to the importance of attention for women with recurring menstrual problems, \u201cbecause they still have an entire career ahead of them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

More research and better care needed<\/h2>\n\n

Gynecologist Huirne sees that attention for the subject is growing \u2013 with examples such as Spain and Portugal, where menstrual leave is regulated by law. \u201cThat is good for emancipation. At the same time, it is not a structural solution,\u201d she says. \u201cWomen may then suffer at home instead of at work, but the problem persists. Only better diagnostics and treatments will bring real change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

State Secretary Judith Tielen also emphasizes the importance of research over leave. \u201cWith better knowledge, we can provide more targeted treatment and adjust guidelines more quickly.\u201d Within the National Strategy for Women’s Health, fifteen million euros is available for this until 2030.<\/p>\n\n

Hormonal complaints and absenteeism: a blind spot<\/h2>\n\n

Despite the scale and frequency of hormonal complaints, they are still a blind spot within the absenteeism and reintegration policy<\/a> of many organizations. While it is precisely these complaints that regularly lead to short-term, recurring absenteeism and reduced employability. By making hormonal health a topic of discussion and an integral part of sustainable employability policy, employers can contribute to timely support, less absenteeism, and better reintegration opportunities for women.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than a third of working women keep hormonal complaints quiet in the workplace. This is according to research by CBS and TNO. These include complaints such as fatigue, headaches,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1544,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1541","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-niet-gecategoriseerd"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medischconsult.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medischconsult.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medischconsult.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medischconsult.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medischconsult.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1541"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/medischconsult.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1541\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1545,"href":"https:\/\/medischconsult.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1541\/revisions\/1545"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medischconsult.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medischconsult.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medischconsult.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medischconsult.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}