Menopause and the workplace

Employers are losing one in six women from the workforce because they don’t provide enough support during menopause. A 2023 CIPD survey found that 67 per cent of respondents said menopause had a negative impact on their work, up from 59 per cent in 2019.

Women make up around 74 per cent of the NHS workforce, and the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan highlights the importance of retaining experienced staff. Supporting colleagues through menopause can help improve staff wellbeing, reduce sickness absence, retain valuable talent and create a more inclusive workplace.

Leaders and managers play a critical role in ensuring colleagues feel supported. Data shows that employers lose one in six women from the workforce due to insufficient support. Understanding the impact of menopause and having open, supportive conversations can help staff remain in work and thrive in their roles.  

Under the Employment Rights Act, UK employers with 250 or more employees can choose to publish a voluntary action plan alongside their gender pay gap data. These plans can include actions to support workplace gender equality, including support for colleagues experiencing menopause.

Subject to secondary legislation, publishing an action plan will become mandatory from spring 2027. The government's measures aim to help employers take effective action to improve workplace gender equality and create environments where everyone can thrive at work.

Key changes: 

Action plans should set out practical steps an employer will take to: 

1. address the organisation’s gender pay gap 
2. support employees experiencing menopause.

To create an action plan, eligible employers must select at least two actions from a list of 18 evidence-informed actions provided by the government. Employers should tailor plans to address the specific needs of their workplace. 

More information:

• Creating an action plan: guidance for employers - this guidance will soon incorporate a suite of employer case studies to support other employers in their implementation journey. If you’d like your organisation’s practices to be considered for inclusion, please contact GPG.Reporting@cabinetoffice.gov.uk. 
• Action guidance pages for the 18 individual actions 
• Additional guidance, including for small employers, on measures to support employees experiencing menopause in the workplace: Managing the menopause - Menopause at work - Acas 

• You can also search the gender pay gap service to see your employer’s 

   

Line managers play a vital role in ensuring colleagues have a safe space to talk about their mental health and wellbeing. Equipping line managers with the tools and resources that they can signpost to, in addition to the organisation-led initiatives, allows staff to stay well and thrive in the workplace. 

Bringing everyone into the conversation: Menopause affects more than the person experiencing it. Male colleagues and managers play a significant role in creating a supportive workplace, but the biggest barrier is often not a lack of empathy, it is a lack of education. Men can either avoid the conversation out of fear of getting it wrong, or default to humour, both of which can feel dismissive. For male managers, understanding the psychological impact of menopause is as important as recognising physical symptoms, as it is the psychological impact that most often goes unrecognised and affects performance and retention. Joe Warner and Rob Kemp, authors of Burning Up, Frozen Out, bring a practical and honest perspective on understanding menopause and what really helps when supporting others. Their book is a practical guide for partners and colleagues who want to better understand perimenopause and menopause.  

 These are some of the tools and resources that can enable you to support your teams: 

• NHS England has published guidance to help NHS organisations and created e-learning to support leader and line managers to understand more about the menopause and how they can support colleagues at work and those experiencing menopause symptoms. 
• The NHS electronic staff record (ESR) team has worked with NHS England to develop a guide on recording menopause related sickness. The guidance includes step-by-step instructions on how to record menopause related absence to help HR colleagues and ESR users. 
• The menopause at work: guidance for people managers and let’s talk menopause guide by the CIPD provides insights into supportive reasonable adjustments in the workplace.  
• The British Menopause Society has educational videos for managers and an education platform on menopause. 
•  Henpicked Lunch & Learn webinar: Menopause — what men need to know and explore Burning Up, Frozen Out for practical guidance to share with colleagues and managers. 

Employers should consider equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in all workplace initiatives, and this should be reflected in menopause support. Everybody can be affected by the menopause and employers should establish this through their policies and support. These are some inclusive resources that can support your workforce: 

• What is the non-binary experience of menopause? A blog written from a non-binary experience of the menopause.  
• Menopause Whilst Black is a podcast aimed at opening the conversation about diversity in the menopause.  
• Henpicked have collated guidance to support EDI and the menopause in the workplace. 
• Menopause resources for LGBTQIA+ people. 

All staff should feel empowered to bring their whole selves to work and be confident to seek support. A culture that is open to conversations about menopause and the impact it can have on a person’s work-life is key to educating the whole organisation, to best support colleagues.  

• The health and wellbeing conversations web page provides guidance for line managers to hold confident and sensitive conversations, particularly useful when discussing the menopause with those directly and indirectly affected by the menopause. 
• Our flexible working hub informs organisations how they can use flexible working to support staff impacted by menopause. 
• Acas published guidance on menopause at work to help employers and managers support their staff. It includes tips for workers on how to raise any concerns and good practice guidance for employers to help manage menopause at work. 
• The Faculty of Occupational Medicine's guidance on menopause and the workplace and infographic highlights key stats and practical guidance on how to improve workplace environments.  
• To understand the principles that will support your organisation, line managers and individuals download the Health, Safety and Wellbeing Group’s menopause at work guidance.  
• The Chartered Institute for Professional Development has also produced Menstruation and menstrual health in the workplace: Guide for people professionals outlining practical advice to help employers provide support around menstrual health in the workplace. 

• The menopause at work toolkit was created by the cross-government menopause network for managers and staff to raise awareness of the menopause transition.
• The effects of menopause transition on women’s economic participation in the UK is an evidence-based report that recommends changing organisational cultures, compulsory equality and diversity training, tailored absence policies
• Pausitivity have created a support pack containing conversation at work guidance, a symptom sorter and signposting to further support.
• Ted talk on The link between menopause and gender inequity at work.
• Menopause services: resources and information. Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust have collated an array of information and signposting about the menopause.
• The Self Care Forum offers a self-care aware fact sheet outlining key information on menopause and perimenopause.
• The British Standard Institute has released new guidance on menstruation, menstrual health and menopause in the workplace.

East Cheshire NHS Trust won the HPMA Excellence in People Awards partnership working category in 2024 for its comprehensive workplace project, developed between the trust and trade unions, to raise awareness and improve support for staff affected by menopause. Read the full case study to find out more.  

Joined Up Care Derbyshire, the Derby and Derbyshire health and social care partnership for adults and children, created a menopause inequalities programme to ensure equality in NHS menopause support. This programme was created by recognising that there is a significant gap in research, resource allocation and support for ethnically diverse and transgender and non-binary people. The trust wanted to ensure every employee had access to tailored menopause support that acknowledges the unique challenges they may face based on their gender identities and backgrounds. These slides detail more about the programme and the resources used. 

Belfast Health and Social Care Trust created an information leaflet for staff which links into its overall health and wellbeing strategy and improving working lives policies. Its  Let's Talk Menopause web page provides useful links and toolkits. The trust also created videos in partnership with Business in the Community to further support staff and managers with the menopause in the workplace. Take a look at the guide for managers video and the guide for employees video.  

The trust created menopause guidance and andropause guidance for employees and line managers to support staff who are experiencing issues, creating an environment where staff feel confident to raise concerns, instigate conversations and ask for reasonable adjustments in the workplace. 

Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust has an informative menopause factsheet to support employees (PDF opens in a new window).

Recognising the need for a safe space for female colleagues experiencing menopause to connect, the trust set up a closed Facebook group for staff to join, where colleagues support each other and share their menopausal experiences. With 80 per cent of employees at the trust being female, and many of these either of, approaching or post-menopausal age, Northern Lincolnshire and Goole have implemented menopause network meetings, with guest speakers such as gynaecologists attending to educate and raise awareness, with an inclusive atmosphere welcoming all staff members. The trust acknowledged the importance of senior leadership visibility in promoting awareness of menopause, and a director shared her experience of the menopause at the network meeting, which inspired others to speak out.   

Working collaboratively, the organisation’s organisational development practitioner and lead psychologist created a video to bust menopausal myths and answer frequently raised questions that staff had wanted to know more about. None of the trust’s successes in raising awareness within the menopausal space could have been achieved without support from their dedicated comms team. The trust share information displayed on their web page specifically for employees who are supporting a partner going through the menopausal transition, providing facts about the menopause and the changes to expect. They also have an informative leaflet documenting menopausal symptoms (PDF opens in a new window), explaining the difference between perimenopausal, menopausal and postmenopausal as a way to educate staff members. 

Alex Watson, Head of Staff Experience, from Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust, shares the practical steps the trust took to support staff and the trust created menopause guidance. 

The trust has created a staff menopause policy, has menopause advocates, and has hosted a range of wellbeing sessions centred on the menopause, such as mindfulness, pelvic health and eating well so that staff receive a holistic approach to the topic.  

West Midland’s journey began in 2018, setting up an online community group called ‘The Big M’, acting as a central platform to share information, articles, advice and free online resources. Since then, the organisation has thrived in providing menopause provision and have: 

• created a menopause guidance document, detailing how menopause may impact on staff, top tips to assist those experiencing the menopause and further signposting 

• organised six bespoke training sessions through MenoHealth, centred around various topics (for example hormone replacement therapy, diet, exercise), with discussion time and a practical exercise to relieve menopausal symptoms. All sessions lasted one hour, accessible to all staff either live or recorded 

• collaborated with East and Eastern Midlands CRN, acknowledging the importance for information about the menopause and symptoms to be circulated to all line managers to best support staff members, designing an instructional video 

• arranged two ‘meno Café’ drop-in sessions to encourage staff to connect ‘socially’ with each other on the topic of menopause. 

The trust has created The Menopause at Work practical guidance for line managers to help them support staff experiencing menopause. The guide encourages line managers to be compassionate leaders and to create a psychologically safe environment for people to bring their whole selves to work.