October is one of those months when several of the conversations I have every week through Sparks come together.

It’s Menopause Awareness Month, with World Menopause Day on 18 October, and this year I’m particularly focusing on Empowering Women Through Health & Knowledge.

At the same time, employers are navigating further changes under the Employment Rights Act 2025, the Fair Work Agency is changing the enforcement landscape, and conversations around psychological safety, workplace relationships and manager capability continue to feature heavily in the work I’m doing with organisations.

They might sound like very different subjects, but actually there’s a thread running through all of them:

Knowledge is powerful – but what we do with that knowledge is what creates change.

So, grab a brew and let’s take a look at what’s happening this October.

Menopause Awareness Month – Are We Moving Beyond Awareness?

We’ve come a long way with menopause awareness.

More people are talking about it, more organisations have policies, more managers recognise the terminology, conversations that once happened behind closed doors, or didn’t happen at all, are becoming much more visible.

That’s progress … but through the menopause work I’m doing with organisations, I keep coming back to one question:

Have we moved from menopause awareness to menopause inclusion?

A policy is a start, an awareness session is a start, marking World Menopause Day is a start … but what happens when an employee actually needs support?

• Do they feel psychologically safe enough to tell their manager they’re struggling?

• Does the manager know what to say?

• Do they understand what they can and can’t ask?

• Do they know what workplace adjustments could be explored?

• Does HR understand how menopause might intersect with absence, performance, capability, health and safety or equality?

• And would that employee receive the same support regardless of which manager they happened to work for?

That’s where awareness becomes inclusion.

This is something I’ve seen again recently while delivering my CPD Accredited Menopause for Managers training. Giving managers information about menopause matters, but some of the most valuable conversations happen when we move into the practicalities:

“What would I actually say?”

“What if they become upset?”

“What adjustments could we consider?”

“When should I involve HR?”

That’s the knowledge that creates confidence.

World Menopause Day – 18th October: ‘Empowering Women Through Health & Knowledge’

One of the key messages I’m focusing on throughout Menopause Awareness Month is Empowering Women Through Health & Knowledge (International Menopause Society).

When women understand what’s happening to their bodies, recognise that symptoms they are experiencing may be connected to perimenopause or menopause, know where to access reliable information and understand what support may be available, they’re better equipped to advocate for themselves and make informed choices about their health and working lives.

But empowerment can’t sit solely with the individual, workplaces have a role to play too which connects particularly well with this year’s official World Menopause Day theme.

The International Menopause Society’s 2026 theme is ‘Chronic Pain at Midlife’, shining a light on an area of women’s midlife health that perhaps doesn’t receive the same attention as some of the more commonly recognised menopause symptoms.

When we talk about menopause, people’s minds might immediately go to hot flushes, brain fog, disrupted sleep or changes in mood but somebody’s experience can be much wider than that, and persistent pain can affect how someone feels and functions both inside and outside work.

It may affect concentration, energy, mobility, sleep, attendance or someone’s ability to carry out particular aspects of their role.

For managers, the answer isn’t to diagnose the problem and it certainly isn’t to assume that every health issue experienced by a woman at midlife is menopause-related.

It’s about creating an environment where somebody feels able to say:

‘I’m struggling and I need some support’ … and having a manager who knows what to do next.

That might involve listening, exploring workplace adjustments, completing an individual risk assessment, signposting to appropriate support, seeking Occupational Health input where appropriate or agreeing to keep things under review.

For me, that’s where these two messages meet:

Empowering women through health and knowledge means giving women the information to understand and advocate for their own health while giving workplaces the knowledge to respond appropriately when support is needed.

From Knowledge to Inclusion

This thinking is at the heart of The Sparks Layered Support Framework™ I’ve been developing.

I don’t believe sustainable menopause inclusion can be created through one intervention.

It needs layers.

• Colleagues who understand menopause and help remove stigma.

• Managers with the confidence and practical tools to support their people.

• Menopause Champions who can provide ongoing peer support, information and signposting.

• HR with appropriate policies, processes, risk assessments and frameworks.

• Senior leaders who understand why menopause inclusion matters and visibly support it.

… and an organisation-wide culture that keeps the conversation going after October has finished.

That’s why my menopause work has developed beyond individual training sessions.

Alongside my CPD Accredited Training for Colleagues, Managers and Menopause Champions, I’ve created my Menopause Inclusion Transformation Programme, looking at the whole organisation; leadership buy-in, strategy, policies, manager capability, Champions, employee awareness, risk assessments, workplace adjustments, communications and ongoing support.

It’s where my two areas of expertise come together.

I haven’t left HR behind to specialise in menopause, HR is still my day job.

I’m working with organisations every week on employee relations, policies, investigations, grievances, appeals, organisational change, manager development and people strategy.

I bring that current HR experience into my menopause work … Where HR expertise meets menopause specialism.

October Brings Important Employment Law Changes Too

While October gives us a great opportunity to talk about inclusion, employers also have some important legal changes to prepare for.

1st October – Employment Tribunal Time Limits

From 1st October 2026, the time limit for bringing the majority of Employment Tribunal claims increases from three months to six months for relevant issues arising on or after that date.

For employers, this makes robust processes and good documentation even more important and that’s something that has been particularly front of mind for me recently through the independent grievance and appeal work I’ve been undertaking.

Months after an event, could you still clearly demonstrate:

✔️ What happened?

✔️ What conversations took place?

✔️ What evidence was considered?

✔️ Why a particular decision was reached?

✔️ What alternatives were considered?

✔️ Whether your procedure was followed?

A well-written contemporaneous record can look very different from somebody trying to remember a conversation months later.

Good HR records have always mattered, now they matter for longer.

30th October – Preventing Sexual Harassment

From 30th October, the existing duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment strengthens to a requirement to take all reasonable steps.

Changes relating to harassment by third parties also take effect.

That could be particularly relevant in sectors where employees regularly interact with customers, clients, service users, contractors, suppliers or visitors.

I’ve been doing quite a lot of work with organisations around bullying, harassment and sexual harassment, and one of the messages I continually reinforce is:

A policy isn’t prevention, a policy is part of it, but employers need to think about risk.

• Where could inappropriate behaviour realistically occur?

• What controls are in place?

• Have managers and employees been trained?

• Do employees know how to report something?

• Do managers know what to do when somebody does?

• Have you considered third parties?

• And could you demonstrate the preventative action you’ve taken?

If you’ve never completed a sexual harassment risk assessment, now would be a very good time to put that on your HR list.

Trade Union Changes – POSTPONED

Further trade union reforms were also due to take effect from 30th October, including requirements around providing workers with information about their right to join a trade union, alongside changes relating to union access and protections for representatives.

However, these reforms have now been pushed back to January 2027. But this doesn’t mean it isn’t something to start thinking about now.

Even organisations without a recognised trade union need to understand their responsibilities.

It’s worth checking your onboarding information, employee communications, handbook and manager guidance now rather than waiting until the changes arrive.

The Fair Work Agency – Would Your Business Be Ready?

Something else I’ve been talking to employers about recently is the Fair Work Agency.

The Fair Work Agency launched in April and brought a number of labour-market enforcement functions together, including areas such as National Minimum Wage enforcement, employment agency standards, gangmaster licensing and serious labour exploitation.

We’re already seeing enforcement activity.

In September, the Government announced that nearly 660 employers had been named for failing to pay the National Minimum Wage, with around £4 million returned to approximately 27,000 workers, alongside millions of pounds in penalties.

What I think is particularly important for SMEs to understand is that minimum wage breaches aren’t necessarily about an employer consciously deciding, ‘I’m going to pay somebody less than minimum wage’, problems can arise through the way pay, deductions and working time operate in practice.

So simply looking at someone’s hourly rate doesn’t necessarily answer the compliance question.

The question I’d encourage employers to ask is:

‘Would we be confident if somebody looked closely at our employment practices?’

Fair Work Agency Preparation Audit

That’s why I’ve developed a Fair Work Agency Preparation Audit.

Think of it as a proactive HR compliance health check, an opportunity to look for gaps before somebody else does.

Depending on the organisation, I can look across areas including:

✔️ National Minimum Wage compliance

✔️ Pay practices and deductions

✔️ Working time and records

✔️ Holiday and holiday pay practices

✔️ Statutory payments

✔️ Contracts and employment status

✔️ Relevant agency and temporary worker arrangements

✔️ Policies and procedures

✔️ Payroll and HR processes

✔️ Employment records

✔️ Evidence of compliance

The outcome isn’t simply a report telling you what’s wrong.

It’s about understanding:

🟢 What’s working well

🟠 Where there may be vulnerabilities

🔴 What needs attention

📋 What you should prioritise

It’s much easier to identify and address an issue proactively than to discover it because somebody else has started asking questions.

Sometimes the Answer Isn’t Another Formal Process

A different theme that’s been running through my work recently is workplace conflict.

I’ve been undertaking independent grievances and appeals alongside my mediation work, and it continues to reinforce how valuable early intervention can be.

Not every disagreement needs to become a grievance, not every communication breakdown needs to become disciplinary and not every damaged working relationship is beyond repair.  Sometimes people need a structured, psychologically safe environment where they can have the conversation they’ve been avoiding.

That’s why I’ve also been working with senior leaders around understanding the difference between mediation and facilitation, when each might be appropriate and when an issue genuinely does need a formal HR process.

As an Accredited Mediator, independence is an important part of what I bring.

• I don’t know the personalities.

• I don’t know the office politics.

• I haven’t heard months of corridor conversations.

• I don’t arrive having already decided who’s right.

Whether I’m mediating or conducting an independent investigation or appeal, my role is to create a fair process, ask the questions that need asking and help establish a way forward based on the circumstances and evidence.

Sometimes bringing the human back into the workplace starts with giving people the space to actually talk.

Who Sits at the Heart of All of This?

There is one group of people who appear in almost every topic I’ve covered this month.

Managers.

• Menopause support.

• Sexual harassment prevention.

• Absence.

• Performance.

• Conflict.

• Grievances.

• Employment law.

You can have excellent policies and procedures, but somebody still has to put them into practice.

• Do your managers know how to have a difficult conversation?

• Would they know how to respond if somebody talked about menopause?

• Could they recognise when a conflict needs intervention?

• Would they know what to do if somebody reported inappropriate behaviour?

• Do they document important conversations properly?

• And, crucially, do they know when something has reached the point where they need HR support?

Manager confidence doesn’t automatically arrive when somebody gets the title ‘Manager’.

We need to give them the knowledge, tools and support to manage people well.

Which brings us right back to where we started:

Knowledge creates confidence, confidence creates conversations, conversations create action and action creates change.

A Little Sparks News

It would be remiss of me not to share a couple of lovely Sparks moments too!

Being recognised as a #SBS Winner by Theo Paphitis this summer was incredibly special, as was winning the Workplace Culture & HR Transformation category at the International Women Entrepreneur Awards 2026 and keep an eye out for Lancashire Business View this month, where I’ll be featured talking about menopause in the workplace, perfectly timed for Menopause Awareness Month.

I’m incredibly proud of how Sparks continues to grow while staying true to the reason I created the business in the first place:

‘Bringing the human back into workplaces’.

October – Dates for Your Diary

There’s a lot happening this month, so here are a few dates worth keeping on your radar:

1st October – Employment Tribunal time limits The time limit for the majority of claims increases from three months to six months for relevant issues arising on or after this date.

10th October – World Mental Health Day A useful reminder that psychological safety, manager capability, workplace relationships and knowing where to access support need attention throughout the year, not just on awareness days.

18th October – World Menopause Day I’ll be focusing on Empowering Women Through Health & Knowledge, alongside the International Menopause Society’s 2026 theme of Chronic Pain at Midlife.

And my challenge to organisations … What happens on 19th October?

If the conversation ends when World Menopause Day does, we haven’t created inclusion.

30th October – Employment Rights Act changes The strengthened sexual harassment preventative duty, third-party harassment provisions and further trade union reforms take effect.

Awareness Is the Beginning – Not the End

Awareness days are valuable, they make us stop, they make us talk, they sometimes encourage somebody to ask a question they haven’t felt able to ask before but whether we’re talking about menopause, mental health, sexual harassment, workplace conflict or employment rights, the real test isn’t what an organisation posts on an awareness day, it’s what happens every other day of the year.

• Do employees know where to go?

• Do managers know what to do?

• Do your policies reflect what actually happens?

• Can you demonstrate the steps you’ve taken?

• Do your people feel confident enough to have the conversation when something isn’t right?

That’s where awareness becomes action and that’s where good HR makes a difference.

Is Something Here on Your HR To-Do List?

Maybe you need to prepare for the latest Employment Rights Act changes.

Perhaps you’ve never completed a sexual harassment risk assessment.

Maybe you’re wondering whether your employment and pay practices would stand up to Fair Work Agency scrutiny.

Perhaps workplace conflict needs independent intervention.

Maybe your managers need more confidence in managing people.

Or perhaps Menopause Awareness Month has made you realise you’re ready to move beyond awareness towards genuine menopause inclusion.

Whatever is sitting on your list, let’s have a conversation.

From CPD Accredited Menopause Training and Menopause Inclusion Transformation, to Fair Work Agency Preparation Audits, employment law readiness, HR policies, manager development, mediation, investigations, appeals and ongoing HR support, that’s exactly what I’m here for.

Sometimes a conversation is all it takes to work out where to start.

Alison x