More than 50 million U.S. workers are women ages 35 and older. These women are essential to business success. Their deep experience and critical skills — such as mentorship and problem-solving — help drive innovation and profitability. In fact, research shows that older workers demonstrate high engagement, work ethic, and loyalty, and that teams with diverse experiences and perspectives are more productive and strengthen company performance.

Yet 90% of women over 35 experience menopause symptoms that, when unmanaged, can impact their quality of life and ability to be successful on the job. Stigma keeps employees quiet: While most women over 35 want menopause benefits, only 2% have discussed menopause support with HR, leading to blind spots when it comes to benefits design. Only 22% of U.S. employers offer menopause-related benefits, and just 14% of employees believe their employers even recognize the need for them.

In some cases, perimenopause/menopause symptoms drive women from the workforce at the peak of their careers, shrinking the pipeline of experienced leaders. This turnover can be costly for employers; one Gallup poll estimates that voluntary turnover costs businesses up to $1 trillion per year. By addressing menopause openly and providing helpful resources and effective benefits, business leaders can build trust, strengthen workplace culture, and retain experienced talent.

Employers have a powerful opportunity to lead right now — and they don’t have to start from scratch. Most organizations already have benefits, policies, and wellness programs that can be adapted to support women who are experiencing menopause symptoms with small but meaningful shifts.

Here you’ll find five steps and free, practical tools to help you open up conversations, identify and build on the support options you already have in place, and create a culture where employees feel seen and supported throughout this important life stage.

Menopause in the Workplace at a Glance

Step 1: Break the Silence 

Opening the door to conversation helps normalize menopause in the workplace, much like pregnancy, caregiving, illness, or other events that affect employees.

How To Start:

• Make menopause support visible: Include menopause in employee resource guides, wellness programs, and existing manager trainings. Highlight available options during onboarding and open enrollment so employees know their options. 
• Invite leaders to set the tone: When top leaders acknowledge menopause, they create space for employees to ask for the support they need. Make sure your managers know where to guide employees for menopause resources and benefits.
• Communicate support often: Continue to share available resources in wellness emails, HR newsletters, or on messaging platforms like Slack or Teams.
• Open the door for dialogue: Provide employees of all ages and genders with avenues to express their needs, such as anonymous surveys, Q&A channels, employee resource group discussions with HR teams, or company town hall events.

Our "Empowering Conversations About Menopause" guide offers simple ways to begin, including scripts for starting a dialogue and guidance on using respectful language. These first steps matter. Once the conversation starts, it becomes easier to build a culture of openness and support.

Step Two: Assess Where You Stand

Once you’ve started the conversation, the next step is to assess what support options your company already offers and where you have room to grow. Many supports that benefit employees broadly can also meet the needs of people experiencing menopause.

That’s where the "How Menopause-Friendly Is Your Workplace?" PulseCheck comes in. This quick and easy assessment helps you see how your organization stacks up across three key areas: culture, policy, and benefits. 

What It Measures:

• Leadership & Culture: Are managers and employees encouraged to talk about menopause openly and respectfully?
• Policy & Practices: Do your policies and accommodations account for the realities of menopause?
• Health Care Benefits & Navigation: Do your health offerings include access to care that’s specific and responsive to menopause?

What gets measured gets attention. Completing the PulseCheck is a low-lift way to identify opportunities for quick wins — like adjusting your existing wellness programs — as well as longer-term improvements, such as strengthening your company's benefits offerings.

Step Three: Build on What You Have

Now that you’ve identified the building blocks your workplace already has in place, the next step is to develop your workplace menopause strategy. 

Our "Naming and Shaping Your Menopause Strategy" guide is designed to help you evaluate existing programs, implement targeted improvements that deliver real impact, and ultimately create a menopause policy at your company.

Where To Look:

• Flexible work: Remote work options, flexible hours, or adjusted schedules or deadlines can be especially valuable for employees to help ensure productivity and support employee retention.
• Leave policies: Make sure your employees know they can use existing sick leave, paid time off, or unpaid leave for managing menopause symptoms or treatment.
• Wellness and mental health programs: You can promote your company's stress management, counseling, and employee assistance programs as resources to help employees who are navigating menopause.
• Peer groups: Encourage your organization's women’s networks, health-focused employee resource groups, or leadership development programs to include menopause-related programming.

How To Communicate It:

Sometimes, the most powerful step is simply naming menopause as a reason employees can use existing benefits and accommodations. 

This is also a chance to identify gaps: If you already have a strong wellness program, could you add menopause education? If you’ve invested in mental health resources, could you broaden that commitment to include the mental health impacts of menopause? 

Even small changes in framing and communication can build trust and signal that supporting employees through every life stage is a priority at your company.

Step Four: Advocate for Better Benefits

The next step is to advocate for health care benefits that meet the needs of your workforce. 

Because most health care providers do not receive training in menopause care, many women go undiagnosed or are offered treatments that aren’t evidence-based. Too often, women cycle through multiple providers and ineffective treatment options. And when care is too expensive or fragmented, employees may delay treatment. Addressing these gaps can help reduce inefficient care and excess costs for both workers and employers.

Employers can engage directly with their insurance providers and pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) to improve coverage — and help build demand for expanded training across the field. Real change happens when employers use their leverage not just to support employees internally, but to demand better from the systems that serve them.

Where To Start:

Our "Improving Health Care Benefits for Menopause" tip sheet provides key considerations and prompts to help HR and benefits leaders start these conversations with insurance providers.

• Ensure access to experts: Ask whether your health plans include access to providers who are experienced in menopause care. Offering telehealth and digital clinic options through your covered benefits can help expand access to trained providers.
• Champion effective treatment options: Benefits should reflect that each person’s menopause experience is unique. Check to see if your plan covers access to hormone replacement therapy (HRT), pelvic floor therapy, mental health care, and more proven treatment options for the wide range of menopause symptoms.
• Strengthen navigation: Care navigation tools can help employees connect with knowledgeable providers and proven treatment options more quickly.

Taking these steps signals that your organization is serious about health, and improved benefits deliver measurable returns for your bottom line: stronger retention, reduced absenteeism, higher productivity, and reduced health care costs.

Step Five: Build on What's Working

Creating a menopause-friendly workplace is an ongoing process. By continuing to assess and strengthen your approach, you’ll ensure that employees have the long-term support they need to bring their best selves to work.

Ways To Keep Growing:

• Ask for and learn from feedback: Look at benefit usage trends and use employee surveys, focus groups, or anonymous check-ins to understand what’s working and where more support is needed.
• Review and expand access. Make sure your policies or programs aren’t limited to certain job levels or roles; broaden access where possible.
• Invest in ongoing training: Provide managers with regular refreshers on how to connect employees to resources and build a culture of support that boosts retention, productivity, and morale.

Get Started

Progress can start small, but even small steps can make a big difference for your employees. Explore these free tools to help build your workplace menopause strategy.

✅ Menopause PulseCheck: How Menopause-Friendly Is Your Workplace?
See how your company's menopause support stacks up by examining your workplace’s culture, policy, and benefits to receive personalized recommendations.

💬 Empowering Conversations About Menopause
Learn how to break the silence and start informed, supportive conversations that make menopause support visible at work.

🧩 Naming and Shaping Your Menopause Strategy
You may already have the building blocks for menopause support; learn how to recognize and adapt existing benefits.‍

🩺 Improving Health Care Benefits for Menopause
Key considerations and prompts to help you start a conversation with your company's insurance provider or pharmacy benefits manager.

💡 HAA Women's Health at Work
Tools, resources, and articles to help you better support employees through every stage of life, including menopause.

We'd love to hear how you're using these tools and tip sheets! Drop us a line at hello@healthaction.org to let us know how they're working for you and your team.