We can’t afford to ignore migraine in the workplace

August 10, 2023 Written by Grace French

Tags: charity communications Media PR

Do you work with someone who experiences migraine?

Chances are, you do – you may just not know it, as so many people don’t disclose their condition for fear of discrimination at work.

1 in 7 people in the UK experience migraine – with 190,000 migraine attacks happening every day*.

This is the equivalent to 396 attacks a minute in the average working day – however, migraine is still poorly understood and largely ignored in the workplace. At a time when a record number of people are not working due to ill health in the UK, it is more imperative than ever for our workplaces to adapt to meet employees’ needs.

And if that’s not a compelling enough reason to address this issue, every year migraine costs the UK economy an estimated £9bn – over 98% of which comes from lost productivity. This is preventable, but employees with migraine are being ignored, not supported.

This summer, we provided Pro Bono support to charity the Migraine Trust to raise awareness of this prevalent issue, empower people with migraine, and call for change.

We leveraged the charity’s latest research, which highlighted the significant impacts of a lack of support in the workplace for people with migraine in 2023:

• 56% of people living with migraine say their workplace hasn’t made reasonable adjustments to help them manage migraine attacks at work
• 34% have felt discriminated against at work
• 30% have felt harassed or victimised in the workplace
• 22% have faced disciplinary action because of migraine

Backed by powerful case studies to humanise the issue, we put this overlooked issue on the nation’s radar.

Press highlights included 3 hits in Daily Mail, 2 hits in The Telegraph, BBC Wales and a raft of regional coverage, including a letter to the editor response from someone who experiences migraine – proving the message resonated with the target audience. Our story had a reach through media of 466.5million people.

As Migraine Trust Chief Executive Rob Music puts it, “by having open conversations and leaving misconceptions about migraine at the door, we can transform outcomes for people with migraine at scale.”

The charity’s Migraine in the Workplace toolkit aims to empower employees to help manage migraine at work, understand their rights, and have productive conversations with their employers.

So whether you have migraine, know someone who does, or aren’t sure if you know someone who does, this is your sign to start a conversation about migraine with people you live and work with.

And at Stand, it means creating a safe space for our team to be heard and supported, especially when they experience migraine.

* Source: The Migraine Trust