Promoting Working Women’s Health at All Life Stages, Including Menopause

Supporting the needs of menopausal women is an inclusion and diversity issue that can pose challenges for employers.

Authors: Lorie Collins Caroline Long Sandra Ventin

Menopause is a topic that's coming up in HR and leadership conversations about women's health, as a growing number of female employees approach mid-life. Many working women are concerned about what this experience may bring, such as perceptions of weakness or age-related biases that affect their career and financial progression.

In fact, it's important for employers to consider the potential impact this life transition could have on performance and talent retention. Nearly a third of women say their menopause symptoms have negatively impacted their performance at work.¹ Supportive strategies promote women's health and wellbeing, and help alleviate their concerns about the effects of menopause in the workplace.

Building on benefits already provided for employees, regardless of gender, can be cost effective and resource efficient when finding the right fit within total rewards. Through proven educational resources and more flexible policies, employers can reduce the stigma surrounding menopause for working women.

Understanding women's health needs as an I&D concern

Competition for talent and a skilled workforce continually challenges employers to refine employee engagement strategies. Increasingly, they're sharpening their focus on inclusion and diversity (I&D) tactics. The potential value of I&D principles and practices in supporting the interests of both the workforce and the organization is clear.

While the priorities of women vary, they often experience common phases that alter what it feels like to be a woman. Coping with menopause in the workplace comes with added difficulties. Policies designed to address women's unique needs during their child-bearing years and beyond require nuanced I&D approaches. For example, while fertility is generally considered a women's health issue, it often concerns men who want children too. And not all working women are mothers, or plan to be, but their preferences should be equitably addressed in policy provisions.

A challenge to implementing I&D, including support for menopause, is that employers may feel overwhelmed about where to start. Initially, leaders who make benefit decisions may be inclined to think in broad categories, such as income, education, race, gender, sexuality and geography. But key subgroups within these categories shouldn't be overlooked as initiatives are rolled out.

An ongoing and unpredictable life event

It's a common misconception that menopause begins when a woman stops menstruating. Actually, this term describes three consecutive stages, including perimenopause, menopause and postmenopause. Perimenopause precedes menopause and can last 6 to 8 years. Menopause begins when a woman is period-free for one year, and she enters postmenopause after reaching this stage.²

Menopause symptoms, physical changes and health risks occur throughout all three stages, during the prime years of a woman's career both professionally and financially. The general timeline begins with perimenopause in her 40s and then changes to menopause at ages 45 to 55, after which she remains in postmenopause for the rest of her life. A significant drop in estrogen during the postmenopausal stage increases women's health risks. Key among them are heart disease, osteoporosis and genitourinary syndrome of menopause.²

Costs of menopausal health issues in the workplace

Employers may ask, "Is there really a need to address menopause in the workplace?" The answer is a resounding yes. One good reason to care about this aspect of women's health is workforce makeup. Women aged 45 to 55 are the fastest growing segment of working women in Canada, and this demographic of two million is projected to grow another 27% by 2040. So if this trend holds true, employers will have more female employees affected by menopause on the job compared to today.¹

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Women aged 45 to 55 are the fastest growing segment of working women in Canada, and this demographic of two million is projected to grow another 27% by 2040.

Another important reason to give time and attention to menopause is employee wellbeing. What a woman's body undergoes during each stage may affect her physical, emotional, financial and social health. More than 30 symptoms are associated with this years-long adjustment, and a number of them can cause physical discomfort such as hot flashes, fatigue and headaches. Only 5% of women escape these events entirely.²

Adverse experiences with menopause can have a ripple effect. They may raise anxiety for women about when and where their symptoms will occur, what others may think if they're noticeable in a public setting, and whether they're serious health developments. About 1 in 3 women expect that others will perceive them as weak, old, or "past their prime."¹

For the 22% who believe their symptoms could affect their progression at work, these concerns are well founded. Menopausal employees with unmanaged symptoms are calculated to cost the economy about $3.5 billion per year. Contributing factors include lost productivity, lost work days attributed to menopause symptom management and lost income due to women working reduced hours or leaving the workforce.¹

Making a big difference with small steps

Addressing menopause in the workplace poses some challenges for women and their employers that need to be addressed. Primary reasons include optimizing women's health, first and foremost, which is intertwined with organizational health. But there's no shying away from the discomfort associated with this topic, and the ingrained stigma that suppresses public discussion.

Many women aged 40 to 60 also find it taboo to open up about the changes they're experiencing when they're at work (54%).² That's why employers need an uncomplicated approach to one of the most important I&D actions they can take. And it's readily available — the first step is simply bringing up this topic. Once that happens the stigma is reduced for employees, regardless of their gender.

Menopause brings uncertainty and change, but the process affects every woman differently. It's common to feel underinformed about this transition and unprepared for it. That's where providing effective educational resources and other proven options that support women's health come in. An awareness campaign that focuses on how to help employees feel comfortable when they're experiencing distress from menopause symptoms can be an appropriate introduction.

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An awareness campaign that focuses on how to help employees feel comfortable when they’re experiencing distress from menopause symptoms can be an appropriate introduction.

Additional tactics include leaning into flexible scheduling and tweaking other benefits. Stress, anxiety and discomfort can be minimized when employees are allowed to work remotely or to start a little later in the day whether in the office or at home. These are real perks for a woman who had sleep disruptions the night before or is experiencing body aches. Another solution is a sick day bank, which provides the opportunity to take a day off when unexpected symptoms make the workday daunting.

Meeting menopausal challenges in the moment

There's no need to delay menopause support for working women until a formalized or full-fledged program is ready to launch. Incremental steps can make a difference. And if an employer isn't ready to address menopause head on, the subject can be wrapped around other topics important to women through targeted communications. Examples include International Women's Day, aging healthfully, financial wellbeing in midlife, preparing for retirement and fertility benefits.

Menopause is gaining attention as an I&D concern, and more employers are starting to think about how to respond. As employers ramp up resources for menopause in the workplace, they can rest assured that they're not alone. A big question is where to go next for the latest insights. One answer is women's health organizations and another is insurance companies that are studying this issue. Case studies also exist on how to make accommodations for menopause. Importantly, growing support reassures employees that their challenges matter and they're not alone.

Employers can even look to other countries for guidance. The discomfort of this life transition for working women has been a topic of conversation for many years in the UK, and today there's strength in numbers. The menopause phenomenon directly and personally affects nearly half of the global population, and many of these women are coping with symptoms.

Demand will continue to increase the supply of women's health solutions for menopause in the workplace, which are already available in different countries. But for the sake of women everywhere — and the organizations that need them — true progress starts with a comprehensive understanding.

Competing successfully, achieving business goals and driving sustainability are about more than just introducing or enhancing specific benefits that help ease menopause symptoms and challenges. It's a holistic commitment, including leadership involvement and employee communication, which steadily and strategically focuses on I&D and all aspects of overall wellbeing.