Guidance

Review policies and procedures to meet the needs of employees experiencing menopause

Published 4 March 2026

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

Purpose of this action

The aim of this action is to review your organisation’s current policies and procedures to find out if they are fit for purpose. These include:

• flexible working
• workplace adjustments
• leave provisions  

You should involve employees with lived experience of menopause to identify any gaps. You may also want to consider creating a specific menopause policy if you do not have one.

Reviewing your policies may also help employees with other health conditions related to menstrual health, such as endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and fibroids. Many workplace adjustments that support employees with menopause symptoms can also support employees with other health conditions.

Benefits and evidence

Research found that 8 out of 10 women aged 45 to 55 years say their workplace does not offer basic support for menopause.^{[footnote 1]} Women report that menopause symptoms can be disruptive at work,^{[footnote 2]} and some work environments can make these symptoms worse.^{[footnote 3][footnote 4]}

Research suggests that employees may want more information about menopause^{[footnote 5][footnote 6]} and more consideration from their employers. This includes:

• flexible working hours or workloads^{[footnote 4][footnote 7][footnote 8][footnote 9]}
• changes to the work environment^{[footnote 4][footnote 5]}

Updating your policies may benefit your organisation as well as employee wellbeing. In recent research only 24% of employees knew of a formal menopause policy at their work.^{[footnote 10]} Offering proactive support may show your commitment to your staff. 

Updating your policies may also help you retain experienced employees. Research found that 1 in 10 women who worked during the menopause left a job because of their symptoms.^{[footnote 11]}

Implementing this action

You may want to review and update your organisation’s policies on:

• flexible working hours – to help employees manage their symptoms and health needs
• working from home – so employees have more control over their environment
• access to private areas where employees can rest
• the organisation’s uniform, if there is one, to assess whether it might make employees experiencing menopause feel too hot or cause discomfort
• the temperature and ventilation of the workplace 
• ergonomic furniture or equipment to improve comfort

To update these policies effectively, you can:

• run confidential consultations, surveys or focus groups to find gaps in your policies
• gather feedback on specific needs from employees who choose to share their health status
• consider challenges in your specific sector, such as shift patterns or uniforms
• try out changes with a small group first to refine your approach
• keep an open mind and avoid making assumptions about an employee’s condition
• make sure policies are flexible, as health and menopause symptoms often change
• set dates to regularly review your procedures in the future

Tracking progress

You might want to consider tracking the progress of this action by:

• analysing absence and retention rates across different age groups and sexes, such as women aged 40 to 60 years
• reviewing and analysing the proportion of employees using flexible working arrangements or reasonable adjustments across different age groups and sexes
• checking if the use of updated policies has increased among women in that age group
• using anonymous surveys to measure how satisfied employees are with the support given
• Using exit interviews with people in the target age group to assess whether the support given played a role in their decision to leave

It may be difficult to link the use of a policy like flexible working to a single cause. Monitoring how women use these policies may show wider benefits beyond menopause support.

You should gather data before you start this action. This can help you monitor any changes for your target group, such as women aged 40 to 60 years.

Data privacy

Some or all of the equality information you collect is likely to be ‘special category personal data’, meaning it has special legal protections. 

Ensure that you are complying with the UK’s data protection legislation when you collect and analyse employees’ data.

Get advice and approval from your organisation’s privacy or data protection expert before you start.

1. The Fawcett Society (2022). Menopause and the workplace. ↩

2. D’Angelo S, Bevilacqua G, Hammond J, Zaballa E, Dennison EM, Walker-Bone K (2022). Impact of menopausal symptoms on work: findings from women in the health and employment after fifty (HEAF) study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(1) ↩

3. Atkinson C, Carmichael F and Duberley J (2021). The menopause taboo at work: examining women’s embodied experiences of menopause in the UK police service. Work, Employment and Society, 35(4). ↩

4. Cronin C, Bidwell G, Carey J, Donevant S, Hughes KA, Kaunonen M, Marcussen J and Wilson R (2023). Exploring digital interventions to facilitate coping and discomfort for nurses experiencing the menopause in the workplace: An international qualitative study. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 79(10), 3760-3775. ↩ ↩² ↩³

5. Beck V, Brewis J and Davies A (2020). The remains of the taboo: experiences, attitudes, and knowledge about menopause in the workplace. Climacteric, 23(2), 158-164. ↩ ↩²

6. Targett R and Beck V (2021). Menopause as a well-being strategy: Organizational effectiveness, gendered ageism and racism. Post reproductive health, 28(1), 23-27. ↩

7. Hardy C, Griffiths A and Hunter MS (2017). What do working menopausal women want? A qualitative investigation into women’s perspectives on employer and line manager support. Maturitas, 101, 37-41. ↩

8. Safwan N, Saadedine M, Shufelt CL, Kapoor E, Kling JM, Chaudhry R and Faubion SS (2024). Menopause in the workplace: Challenges, impact, and next steps. Maturitas, 185, 107983. ↩

9. Adelekan-Kamara Y, Asunramu MH, Bhullar K, Duah-Asante KA, Leedham-Green K, Madaan A, Poku D and Yousefi S (2023) Factors underpinning an improved menopausal experience in the workplace for doctors: a UK-based qualitative study. BMJ open, 13(3), e060265. ↩

10. Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (2023) Menopause in the workplace  ↩

11. The Fawcett Society (2022) Menopause and the workplace. ↩