Menopause is a normal life event for women (trans gender and non-binary people too), and yet we very rarely talk about it, even amongst our friends and particularly not in the workplace – but why? 
Given that women aged over 45 comprise 17% of the Australian workforce and menopause typically occurs between the ages of 45 and 55 – you would think that conversations about such a natural event would be common place.
 
In this podcast, Parents At Work’s Customer Experience Director, Fiona Hitchiner, interviews Thea O’Connor to learn more about menopause, some of the signs and symptoms, what we can do to prepare for this phase of life, and even find joy in it. Thea O’Connor is a senior advisor on workplace wellbeing and productivity, helping leaders, teams and individuals improve their workplace engagement and effectiveness through body intelligence and better health. She draws on 30 years experience in health promotion including in the fields of nutrition (as a dietitian), body image, sleep science and workplace health. 
  
Here are some useful resources to learn more about menopause:
https://www.thea.com.au/menopause/
https://www.jeanhailes.org.au/health-a-z/menopause
https://www.menopause.org.au/

Menopause With Thea OConnor

Persian Dawn

This month, Elysia McCaffrey, the Deputy Head of the UK Government Equalities Office is in Australia touring with Libby Lyon’s Director of Australia’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency. Together they are reflecting on the progress made in Australia over the past five years when it comes to the gender pay gap, and how this compares to what the UK is doing following its first year of data collection under new gender pay gap legislation.

Emma Walsh, CEO, Parents At Work interviewed Elysia in this special employer podcast for her views on how the introduction of the UK’s Shared Parental Leave Scheme is key to driving gender equality outcomes at home and at work plus how this is contributing to reducing the pay gap.

Can shared parental leave close the gap on gender inequality? Interview with the UK's GEO

Is your career integrated in your broader life? Is your career in line with who you are? Are you actually happy doing what you do?

Parents At Work, CEO, Emma Walsh talks to Executive Career Coach and Author, Gill McLaren on how to have a fulfilling career that integrates well with your life.  

Emma and Gill address how you bring clarity and purpose to your career including what this concept of ‘career wellbeing’ is and how to do a health check on your career. They talk about finding clues about what needs recalibrating, reflecting on and moving forward with.

1. Think, Plan, Live with Gill McLaren. Career Wellbeing Podcast - Episode 1

In this episode of Parental Leave Essentials, Parents At Work CEO Emma Walsh interviews Catherine Brooks about her book "Let's Make It Work, Baby". Catherine is a senior employment lawyer and associate director at the innovative firm Law Squared. She is also about to go on her second parental leave.

Emma and Catherine explore some of the common questions parents ask when they are about to go on leave such as 'how much leave should I take off?' and 'what are the ins and outs of talking to my manager about returning on a flex basis?'. Catherine also provides great resource links around finding out your legal entitlements during the parental leave transition time.

The pair also address the personal reflections often experienced at work during pregnancy or on a return from leave including the expectations and judgements we have that put pressure on ourselves.

#893277

1. Let's Make It Work, Baby- Catherine Brooks - Parental Leave Essentials Podcast Episode 1

An interview with Anna, International Flight Attendant on her approach to working in the air.

An Interview With Anna - International Flight Attendant

In this Shared Care Special, Sarah Maxwell, People & Performance Director at Solotel, opens up to us about how she and her husband plan to take their parental leave with their baby on the way. 

Their plan is to alternate in taking blocks of time off, with Sarah taking a block of 6-8 weeks off, then Peter taking 6-8 weeks, then Sarah will take  a second block, then Peter will take a second block – up until 6-8 months when they will put their baby in care and both return to work.

They both love their work, and are both passionate about being fully committed, hands-on parents, sharing the care for their child.

What makes this series so unique is that we'll be able to follow Sarah & Peter over the coming months, and hear first-hand about how they're finding the experience. It's fantastic to see parental leave equality in action from the parent point of view.

Special on Shared Care:  Follow Sarah & Peter's shared parental leave story - Part 1

Body Awareness for Sleep

Self-doubt is a sure-fire way to kill off any career progression. The ‘should I’ ‘can I’ ‘what if’ thoughts all hamper our style when it comes to going for it with our work. 

This episode Emma Walsh and Gill McLaren address the big challenges both men and women face when it comes to taking a career to the next level. What do you really want your career to look like? What holds you back? Where can you bring more clarity to the direction your heading with work? Can you really do it? Yes is the simple answer. 

Join the latest Career Wellbeing Podcast episode for some great tips to take you there.

3. Career Confidence Killers - What does it take to bin the self-doubt and thrive at work?

National Carers Week in October every year aims to recognise and celebrate the incredible work of carers of all shapes and sizes. In this podcast, Kiri Stejko interviews Danielle Robertson from DR Care Solutions about her experience with carers and the importance of planning ahead for the future. With over 2.7 million family and friend carers in Australia it is highly likely that there are people in your life who are providing unpaid care for someone close to them. 

Danielle discusses what employers and co-workers can do to help carers get the support they need to keep up this often very taxing work. They also open up the conversation in order to eradicate  the stigma in the workplace surrounding people with caring responsibilities outside of work to help them feel comfortable to use the resources available.

Carers Week: What Parents & Carers Need to Plan Ahead – with Danielle Robertson

Sitting Yoga - Neck & Shoulders

Parents at Work is a world leading provider of education and coaching services for workplaces, parents, carers and leaders. 

For over a decade, we have been providing expertise, advocacy and education programs to inform and empower parents, carers and their employers, to successfully balance the ongoing and interdependent demands of career, family and personal wellbeing.

We're on a mission to improve the lives of parents and carers by creating family friendly workplaces.

We collaborate with employers, policy makers and industry professionals to improve gender equality outcomes at work and at home by;

- creating and delivering best practice gender balanced parental leave, return to work programs 
- supporting and advocating for working families
- promoting family-friendly workplaces which support work-life balance and flexible working. 

We are a membership based organisation, together, working in partnership with progressive employers, we have provided over 100,000 families with access to vital parental leave and return to work transition programs, work life balance support, career management and other care services.

Our membership is made up of global and local organisations and we've been recognised by the Human Rights Commission for our work.

www.parentsandcarersatwork.com

Menopause With Thea OConnor

Parents At Work

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