Health doesn't have to preclude a career. The human side of working with a chronic illness.

Discussing endometriosis in the workplace often feels like walking a tightrope. On the one hand, there's the desire for someone to finally understand why you can't just "stick it out." On the other, there's the fear that if you talk too much, you'll be perceived as the one with the problem. This tension is exhausting, regardless of the pain.

But something is slowly changing. Employers, or at least some of them, are beginning to understand that flexibility isn't a privilege for the few, but a sensible response to the reality faced by millions of women. In Poland endometriosis It could affect as many as 3 million of us. It's hard to continue pretending that this is a niche topic.

Presentism: The Enemy Nobody Talks About

There's something researchers call presenteeism. It's a state in which you're technically at work, but your mind is elsewhere, all your energy consumed by trying to get through the next hour. Specialists from the Institute of Occupational Medicine describe it as a phenomenon that generates enormous costs for both the employee and the entire organization, often higher than those resulting from a standard sick leave. You sit at your desk, grit your teeth, and count the minutes until the end of the day. This isn't productivity; it's survival.

In the case of endometriosis, presenteeism is a common occurrence. A study conducted in ten countries by Nnoaham and colleagues found that women with endometriosis lose an average of almost 11 hours of productive work per week, primarily not through absences, but rather through reduced productivity at work. Endometriosis can cause pain comparable to a heart attack, and the accompanying brain fog makes even simple tasks require many times more effort than usual. Employers who fail to recognize this pay double for this pain: first in lost hours, and secondly in the form of burned-out and increasingly disengaged employees.

Flexibility that really works

Flexible work hours are one of the few solutions that actually help, not on paper but in practice. Endometriosis is unpredictable. A pain attack can strike in the middle of an important meeting or right after waking up, when getting out of bed is simply impossible. The ability to delay the start of the day by two hours, as the medication finally kicks in, allows you to complete a project that wouldn't have happened without this space.

Remote work is a separate, yet equally important, issue. For many women with endometriosis, it's not about convenience or a fashionable benefit, but rather the ability to function normally on a day that would be lost without it. At home, you don't have to wonder if your office pants will survive bloating. stomach, you can change position, have a hot water bottle handy, and not have to explain to anyone why you're going to the bathroom again. Some companies also decide to introduce additional recovery days or menstrual leaves. It's a gesture that conveys a simple message: Your experience is considered genuine and serious, and you don't have to prove it to anyone.

A team that doesn't look askance

No HR policy will work if a culture of distrust and unspoken resentment prevails within the team. When colleagues don't know what endometriosis is, every absence raises questions, and every break sparks speculation. There's no need to organize medical training or force anyone to share private information. Simply create a space where it's normal to recognize that chronic illnesses don't always look the same and that the symptoms invisible to the naked eye are very real.

However, it's important to remember the opposite. Not every woman wants to talk about her symptoms, cycle, or treatment, and she has every right to do so. Support should be available, but never forced. Asking "how are you feeling?" can be a gesture of genuine concern, but it can also become a form of pressure if asked in the wrong place and at the wrong time. Good support is the kind that waits in the background and doesn't require public confession as a condition for receiving it.

An office that doesn't add to the pain

The physical work environment is more important than you might think, and it's not about expensive investments or dramatic changes. A height-adjustable desk allows you to change positions without having to explain why. Access to a warm place, away from maxed-out air conditioning, can be the difference between cramps flaring up midday or allowing you to carry on until the end of the day. Sometimes, all it takes is a manager asking what someone needs instead of assuming they know better.

But the most important thing remains the intangible. A manager who can listen without immediately seeking solutions or judgment. A team where no one has to prove their pain to be taken seriously. A culture where taking time off when your body refuses to cooperate isn't a reason for shame or explanation. Such workplaces exist and can be built because women with endometriosis who feel safe, loyal, engaged, and rarely leave. And those who feel misunderstood sooner or later simply end up fighting on two fronts at once.

A workplace that considers the needs of women with endometriosis isn't a charitable gesture; it's simply good management. Where there's trust, flexibility, and a touch of simple human consideration, everyone wins: the employee maintains her health and dignity, and the company gains someone who knows they can count on her and reciprocates.

Sources

1. Nnoaham KE, Hummelshoj L., Webster P. et al., Impact of endometriosis on quality of life and work productivity: a multicenter study across this countries, "Fertility and Sterility" 2011, 96(2): 366–373. PubMed
2. Simoens S., Dunselman G., Dirksen C. et al., The burden of endometriosis: costs and quality of life of women with endometriosis and treated in referral centers, Human Reproduction 2012, 27(5): 1292–1299.
3. Wężyk A., Merecz D., Presenteeism – a (not) new phenomenon in the work environment, "Occupational Medicine" 2013, 64(6). medpr.imp.lodz.pl
4. Wyderka M., Zalewska D., Szeląg E., Endometriosis and quality of life, "Polish Nursing" 2011, 42(4): 199–206. Poznań University of Medical Sciences.
5. The impact of endometriosis on social functioning – information for patients, Agency Research Medical / portal endometrioza.abm.gov.pl. Link