- Conference
- 2025 National Women's Conference
- Date
- 18 October 2024
- Decision
- Carried as Amended
Conference notes that the conversation on the importance of and the impacts of women’s health conditions in the workplace has already begun.
• In July 2022 the Government produced a Women’s Health Strategy for England Women’s Health Strategy for England – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk);
• Unison National Women’s Conference 2024 saw a successful motion carried on Prioritising Women’s Health in the Workplace
This motion seeks to build on the conversation by framing how we in UNISON need to be part of changing and shaping workplace culture around the issue of women’s health.
Workplaces by their very nature are part of a system created by men for men which is both macho and misogynistic. These powerful elements can work against women as they progress up the corporate ladder. We also hear too often from women members of poor treatment meted out to them by other female managers.
We see women categorised by their responses within the workplace in stereotypical language – women are described as ‘sensitive’, ‘aggressive’, ‘over-emotional’, ‘a hot mess’, ‘mentally unstable’ when in reality they are struggling to get through each day due to their health needs.
This motion seeks to address that by highlighting the need to shift from a ‘blame and shame’ culture to a trauma led empathic approach to women’s health in the workplace.
In public service we talk about having a trauma led approach to service delivery. We recognise the impact that life experiences have on individuals, and we work with them to repair some of the damage to help people continue to thrive.
Trauma-informed practice is a framework based on five core principles:
1)Safety
2)Trustworthiness
3)Choice
4)Collaboration
5)Empowerment
This motion calls for UNISON to influence and shape the agenda of women’s health in the workplace in a trauma led way.
We want to see women feel safer in the workplace, and able to confidently discuss their health issues which may impact on their attendance and performance.
We want to see managers supported to understand that the different phases of a woman’s life may bring its own challenges specific to each woman, and that these challenges can be traumatic to the individual.
We want to see our trade union colleagues empowered and upskilled to be able to ensure that when women ask for support be that in attendance, performance or any other matter, that investigations ask the difficult question: is there a health impact that has affected this situation?
We want women understood, supported and empowered through our health challenges. No shame, blame or an expectation to ‘just get on with it’.
Conference, we call on the National Women’s Committee to be at the forefront of changing workplace culture around women’s health issues by:
1) Consulting all women members especially LGBT+ and black members about how their health conditions have impacted them at work. In particularly where they felt that those impacts fed into disciplinary episodes. The survey should include but not be restricted to
a)How able they felt to raise those health issues.
b)How management responded.
c)The gender of the manager dealing with the issue.
2. Developing policy guidance for employers to ensure that that trauma led practice is applied to all women within the workplace especially LGBT + and Black members
3. Work with LAOS to ensure that trauma led guidance, and training on how to ask difficult questions sensitively is part of routine training for all lay and elected officers
a)How able they felt to raise those health issues.
b)How management responded.
c)The gender of the manager dealing with the issue.
d)Recognise the different impact on LGBT+ and Black members.