“Problematic to Hire.” This Is Exactly the Problem.

Last week, a Pennsylvania lawmaker said women were problematic to hire and it’s certainly made some waves.

The House Labor & Industry Committee was discussing House Bill 2135, which would require employers to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnancy- and menopause-related conditions. Representative Scott Barger said he used to evaluate employees “based on how problematic they are to hire,” and that with legislation like this hanging over employers, “they’re gonna find a reason not to hire the woman.”

Back home in Washington, Governor Bob Ferguson signed an executive order in June directing the state Women’s Commission to work with agencies to strengthen menopause and perimenopause accommodations, and to develop guidance and training for employers.

On the surface, that looks like two states disagreeing about accommodations. In reality, I’m not sure it’s about accommodations at all.

We’ve spent the past few years telling women it’s okay to ask for support, but in my experience, we haven’t made it professionally safe to do it.

Picture a woman who’s 47. She has spent 25 years building her career and she leads a team. Then she stops sleeping. She loses her train of thought in meetings, her anxiety spikes, and she starts doubting herself in ways she never has before. Eventually she figures out it’s perimenopause, so she does what we keep telling women to do and asks for help. Maybe it’s some flexibility in her schedule, or the occasional day at home after a night with almost no sleep, or time for medical appointments.

What does her employer tell themselves once she asks? “She needs some flexibility right now” can turn into “she can’t handle this role anymore.” “She’s going through a hard time” can turn into “maybe she’s not ready for the next level.” And if you take Representative Barger at his word, “she needs an accommodation” turns into “women her age are a problem to hire.” And, increasingly in the current employment environment, a problem to keep.

We need accommodations. We need better healthcare, and women need to understand what’s happening in their own bodies. But none of that fixes the workplace problem by itself, because the real damage happens in the space between what someone observes and what they decide it means.

A woman gets quieter. That’s an observation. “She’s lost her ambition” is an interpretation. A woman asks for flexibility, and that’s an observation. “She can’t handle a demanding leadership role” is a story we’ve added. Those aren’t the same thing, and it’s very easy to slide from one to the other without noticing.

Women know this, which is why so few of them say anything. New research from the Society for Women’s Health Research and The Fuchsia Tent found that nearly half of symptomatic women said they’d be comfortable talking to HR about menopause. Only 6% actually had. Women in the study’s roundtables described worrying that speaking up would cost them career progression.

So, women aren’t only deciding whether to share a health issue. They’re deciding whether they can afford to be seen differently afterward.

That’s why the workplace conversation has to go past “what accommodations should we offer?” We also have to ask what happens to her once she uses them. Does she still get the stretch assignment? Does her manager still talk about her as high potential? Is she still on the succession plan? Does anyone still picture her running the place five years from now?

Support without continued investment isn’t really support. It’s a politer way of writing someone off.

One idea I come back to constantly at Spark is that change is information, not a conclusion. See what’s happening. Pause before you build the story. Ask instead of assuming. Respond with the right support. And keep investing.

As I’ve shared before, the goal is to make sure nobody mistakes a season of change for the end of a woman’s potential. It’s not just about helping women get through menopause at work and feeling safe to do so.

I’ll be launching a workshop soon that goes into detail on this topic – for women and for managers. Add yourself to the interest list on my workshops page.