Menopause – what’s the role of workplaces?

© Thea O’Connor

Menopause-aware workplaces begin with acknowledgement, conversation and capable leaders.

Menopause isn’t just a fact of life – it’s a fact of business. It can affect engagement, loyalty, retention of midlife women and your leadership pipeline.  It therefore makes good business sense for employers to make their organisations menopause-aware so they can retain some of their most experienced people.

Menopause is programmed into the lifecycle of every person born female. Menopause itself marks the point in time when fertility and menstruation permanently cease. Perimenopause — the years leading up to this point — is characterised by fluctuating and declining ovarian hormones, often accompanied by a range of symptoms.

Symptoms are diverse, and not all women experience them. However, according to the largest validated workplace study of women’s experiences of menopause and menstruation, three quarters of women say menopause disrupted their work in some way over the previous 12 months. Brain fog, insomnia, fatigue, hot flushes and mood changes are among the most problematic impacts for working women.

Despite this, most workplaces have operated as if menopause doesn’t exist. Within that context, many women have felt the need to hide their experience. As one of the many women I interviewed for my qualitative research said, describing how she navigated menopause in the workplace:

“Nothing to see, nothing to hear — it’s performance as usual.”

That’s one way to deal with the stigma and taboos surrounding this life stage – but it hasn’t served women well. It has left generations of women uneducated, unsupported and misunderstood.

Ignoring menopause can also be costly for organisations. The 2024 MetLife survey of 1,100 women found that one third reported menopause negatively impacting their career. Where no employer support existed, that figure jumped to 49 per cent.

In other words, the biggest workplace risk isn’t menopause. It’s pretending it doesn’t exist.

With employer support, only 14 percent of women reported a negative career impact.

This means that employer support can effectively halve the negative impact of menopause at work.

That’s a massive opportunity for workplaces.

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So what can workplaces actually do? What does effective support look like?

Like any culture change initiative, the most successful approaches are strategic and holistic — engaging leaders and employees while making any necessary changes to the physical and psychosocial environment. But for now, let’s keep it simple.

Normalise conversations

This is the bedrock of menopause-inclusive workplaces.

“Can we please end the silence that surrounds a stage of life that half of humanity goes through?” said another participant in my research.

Running education sessions for all staff is a simple way to open up the conversation and ensure everyone has the facts. Providing opportunities for people to connect and share experiences can also be powerful. Employee resource groups, “Menopause Cafés” and dedicated team channels can create safe spaces for conversation and support.

One important qualifier: don’t single out individuals or put them in the spotlight uninvited. Respect women’s boundaries and their need for privacy. As one participant said during my manager training program:

“This is all good, just don’t make me the poster girl for menopause!”

Build manager capability

Women are unlikely to speak up and seek support if they think their manager will go pale, shut down or become embarrassed.

Employers therefore need to invest in training managers so they feel comfortable and competent having sensitive, menopause-related conversations – with those staff who need and want that support. Not all women will.

At an organisational level, this is about much more than facilitating conversations. It’s also a risk management issue. Fail to equip managers to talk appropriately about menopause and you could end up facing workplace claims or tribunal action.

In the UK, the number of employment tribunals citing menopause has increased significantly in recent years — from 64 cases in 2022 to 204 in 2024. Claims have included sex discrimination, age discrimination, disability discrimination and unfair dismissal.

Encourage and authorise accommodations

Flexible work is consistently one of the top supports women request to help manage symptoms.

There are also many simple, inexpensive adjustments that can help — whether that’s access to noise-cancelling headphones for concentration difficulties, permission to use notes to support memory, or desk fans to help manage hot flushes.

Authorising these kinds of adjustments and ensuring facilities appropriately cater for women – by providing period products in bathrooms, for example – can make a significant difference to women’s ability to get on with the job, and their sense of feeling valued.

It also helps organisations meet their work health and safety obligations.

With the growing focus on employers managing psychosocial risks such as lack of support, exclusion and harassment – and with jokes still one of the most common ways menopause is discussed at work – organisations can no longer afford to ignore this life stage that every woman will eventually experience.

Where to start

1. Start with the “why”

Articulate why this matters for business — not just for female employees.

Whether you’re advocating upwards to leaders, speaking with your team, or leading the initiative yourself, you need a rationale that resonates across the organisation.

Ask yourself: how does becoming menopause-inclusive help us achieve our business goals? Consider, for example, how menopause support might contribute to: staff retention; reduced absenteeism; meeting WH&S obligations, employer branding, leadership retention or achieving gender equity targets.

2. Review what already exists

Look at your current policies, programs and benefits and consider how they could become more menopause-sensitive. This might include: your reasonable adjustments policies; flexible work or fatigue management policies; WH&S risk assessments, EAP services; diversity and inclusion initiatives or leadership development programs for women.

Sometimes a simple mention of menopause – as a reason to request flexible work for example – is all that’s needed.

3. Start the conversation

Run education events around awareness days and weeks such as:

• Women’s Health Week (August 10 -16 in NZ, September 7 – 11 in Australia)
• World Menopause Day (October 18)
• World Menopause and Work Day (September 7)

You can also curate resources for your intranet, share personal stories where appropriate, or invite experts to speak.

4. Consult your people

Run pulse surveys, review workforce data, hold discussion groups or one-on-one conversations to better understand how supported menopausal women feel within your organisation – and what practical changes people would value most.

With a clear business case and meaningful input from your people, you’ll have the foundation for an integrated Menopause Action Plan that will help your organisation appreciate and retain some of your most experienced and resilient people.

Ready to talk the next step? Book your complimentary discovery session with Thea – a focused consultation to understand your organisation’s needs and recommend practical next steps.

Thea O’Connor is the Director of Menopause of Work® Asia Pacific, who offers training, education and organisational support to help workplaces become menopause-inclusive. 

MENOPAUSE AT WORK : THE NUMBERS WORKPLACES CAN’T AFFORD TO IGNORE

According to the largest validated workplace menopause study in the world — conducted by the University of Glasgow involving more than 6,000 employees in thte National Health Services Scotland:

• 76% of women said menopause had disrupted their work in some way over the previous 12 months
• Around 10% intended to leave their jobs due to menopause symptoms
• Lack of workplace support was a key driver of women wanting to leave
• 73% believed organisations could make a significant difference to employees’ experience of menopause at work
• Women considering leaving were far more likely to report poor access to appropriate workplace facilities
• Only 37% felt menopause could be managed without workplace support

Source: https://www.gla.ac.uk/media/Media_1016351_smxx.pdf