An expert’s guide: Providing menopause support in the workplace

Are we empowering our colleagues to talk about the menopause?

There continues to be a stigma around it. Employees can, at times, be nervous around having these important conversations with HR leaders, and it’s a subject that needs more support from employers on a day-to-day basis.

just 2% of employees reported that they have used the menopause support in the last year, with only 17% of businesses saying that they offer menopause support.

Last year, we hosted a key webinar with our Marketplace provider, Adora, to explore some of the issues faced by employees, and as part of our recent Q&S series, they have sat down with Zest to answer some of the pain points employees may face in the workplace..

Zest: What are some of the issues employees may face in the workplace when going through the menopause? How can this experience negatively impact their work?

Adora: Around 75% of women will experience menopause symptoms, with 25% of those having symptoms severe enough to cause huge disruption and distress. Around 25% won’t experience many – if any – symptoms at all. There are two broad issues women face at work, when they are one of the 75% who go through peri/menopause and do have symptoms.

Peri/menopause symptoms and how they can affect work

The first is dealing with the actual symptoms themselves and their impact they can have on the ability to perform – or even just the worry and anxiety that they might have an impact. For example, brain fog can affect focus, concentration and memory. Hot flushes can create fatigue, embarrassment and disruption. Sleeplessness can drain women of energy. Joint pain can make it difficult to feel comfortable. Lack of confidence, anxiety and low mood can make tasks and projects that would have been easy before feel harder.

Concerns about career progression if you ask for help

The second is how to navigate the potential embarrassment and career concerns if you ask for help or reasonable adjustments. Especially from a male manager or a female who hasn’t experienced peri/menopause yet.

• 52% of women would be uncomfortable addressing issues such as menopause with a male manager, and 17% said the same of a female manager, according to the latest BSI survey of over 5,000 women.*
• 28% of women surveyed say that menopause held them back from progressing further at work, revealed recent Gendered Ageism report from Working Wise.**

Zest: Why do we need to do more to create a great workplace culture so women at this life stage – and businesses – can thrive?

Adora: From a business perspective it’s so important to flag that 1 in 10 women consider leaving the workforce due to menopause, and 4 in 10 feel they have to reduce their roles. This is a massive skills and productivity drain. And it costs businesses to recruit and train replacements. So creating a great workplace culture where women can navigate menopause well, and perform well, is a win win. (You can understand the cost to your business of doing nothing by using the Adora Calculator).

• Reduce the risk of discrimination. It’s also a great way to ensure businesses – and all the people in them – are supported and have a reduced risk of ending up discriminating based on age and sex. There’s a legal obligation here, as well. It can feel nerve wracking to be a person who hasn’t experienced menopause having to have conversations about it if you don’t feel prepared or informed. So it benefits everyone.
• Make it easier for women to seek support. A well-informed workplace with well-supported employees means it’s easier for women to ask for the help they need and not feel they will be penalised, or made to feel embarrassed. Most adjustments are surprisingly simple – it doesn’t have to be a huge burden on a business (see below).
• Help women get the right care – so they’re well at work. A workplace can signpost to trusted, specialist menopause resources or partners like Adora to make sure women get what they need to manage their symptoms well. Specific training assessments on women’s health only became a mandatory part of GP training in 2024. So there are GPs who are not as well versed in what women need*** . And with months-long NHS waiting lists to see a gynaecologist, women need to be armed with good information about how to self-manage, as well.
• How can support be truly personalised?
  We love this question! It’s what Adora is all about. We have a 360 support and information service for women, that is tailored to them.

(1) Women definitely need to speak to a qualified menopause specialist, there is no doubt about that. If your GP surgery doesn’t have a GP with a special focus on peri/menopause, Adora has a live nurse chat, and a telehealth service where you can book a private appointment with a menopause specialist GP or a gynaecologist. This human 121 contact with someone who really understands and cares about menopause is essential. But of course you can’t have them on the phone 24/7!

(2) We have developed an AI menopause companion that learns from each Adora member the more they use it. It will take into account the answers you give to any assessments/quizzes, and give you useful tips, and information in a really warm, friendly way, that are tailored to you.

(3) We absolutely encourage women to talk to each other, too – our live webinars with experts are a great way to hear the questions and thoughts of other women around a specific topic. As every woman has a different mix of menopause symptoms, to a differing degree of severity, you need to be able to get deep dive information on the symptoms that are challenges for you. And sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know – so other women can help show you the path because they have been on it.

(4) Discovering for yourself is also part of the mix. Finally, we believe that giving trusted, expert information that is both medically safe and based on the wants and needs of women is so important. Our app has an information hub that women can explore and use to pick for themselves what’s ideal for them – and this can change as you go from perimenopause to menopause itself and into post-menopause.

Zest: What are some simple measures employers can take to start putting positive measures in place?

Adora: Research from the CIPD has shown that the most valued workplace support measures can be quite simple.

1. ability to control local temperature (fans, access to a window or air conditioning, for example)
2. planned flexible working (for example changing to a later start to accommodate sleepless nights)
3. last-minute or unplanned late starts after sleep disturbance more and more breaks when needed (making sure you and the employee communicate clearly with any team members who may wonder what’s happening)
4. occupational health support if you offer it

Also consider if your workplace processes, rules and infrastructure could be adjusted. **** For example, if a woman needs more loo breaks to change her period care due to perimenopause flooding, can you accommodate that? How about your uniforms – if they’re too hot, could you allow a relaxation of the rules for women dealing with hot flushes, or adjust the fabric? For women needing support with brain fog, could you provide a quiet workspace for focus time?

Zest: What are some long-term measures employers can look at to positively impact their workforce?

Adora:  (1) Legitimising menopause in your workplace: creating a policy and guidance ***** – one that recognises the impact menopause has on women and introduces workplace adjustments. For managers, colleagues and the women going through menopause, having a clear policy like you would for anything else is really helpful. It shows the company cares, and is open to the discussion, and it makes clear from the start what is potentially available to help. This makes initiating a conversation so much easier for a manager and an employee.

(2) Education and awareness:  foster a supportive workplace culture amongst leaders, C-suite and all workforce.  Hold regular educational workshops and  training to create allies for women, and understanding amongst their colleagues.   Adora runs monthly expert workshops  for all colleagues as well as for women

(3) Female allyship:  create a safe space where women can get together on a regular basis and support each other like a Menopause Cafe.  Think about whether Menopause Champions would work – a friendly and supportive face that someone can speak to and get support and more importantly can signpost to the internal resources or health services like Adora.

(4)     Expert health and wellbeing services for women so they can educate themselves and manage their symptoms.  We know the NHS is not providing women with what they want, we know peri-menopause can last 4-7 years, we know there are up to 40 symptoms so women need access to ongoing support and health and wellbeing services designed for this stage of life to keep them thriving. 

Zest: How can Adora help employers with their benefit offering?

Adora: We offer women a warm, friendly, expert digital platform that has an information and video hub, an AI menopause companion to chat to, and crucially – access to menopause specialist healthcare professionals. We have a live nurse chat, and a telehealth service where women can speak to a menopause specialist GP or gynaecologist in 2 to 5 days (compared to NHS waiting lists that can last months).

We hold monthly live webinar sessions for all employees, on topics like HRT, nutrition, being a male ally – and hosted by some of the top experts in their fields. And we make sure the videos are available in the app for anyone who doesn’t make the live event – though we have such emotional feedback from women who come to the live events because they love the sense of camaraderie and support.

We know engagement of employee benefits is hard, so we create all the marketing assets so that the conversation is kept alive all year round in the workplace.

To download Zest’s Menopause report, click here.