Menopause in the workplace: improving working conditions without stigma

The UK has published some of the most practical employer guidance. The workplace advisory service Acas points out that menopause is not a specific protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010, but that treating someone unfavourably because of their symptoms can still amount to discrimination linked to age, sex or, in some cases, disability. Unwanted comments about symptoms can be harassment. Acas advises employers to focus on support rather than on deciding whether someone counts as disabled.

The same guidance treats menopause as part of health and safety. Employers must assess risks for all workers, including those working from home, and the aim is that symptoms are not made worse by the workplace or by ways of working.

A hot flush does not have the same impact in a well-ventilated office, a kitchen, a workshop that requires protective equipment or a customer-facing role. A bad night does not have the same consequences with flexible hours as with a very early start or a safety-critical task. The analysis therefore looks at the real work: temperature, ventilation, breaks, access to water and toilets, uniforms, schedules, autonomy and emotional demands.

This avoids two mistakes. The first is to make the problem entirely individual, sending each woman to her doctor without looking at how work is organized. The second is to assume that one measure suits all women of a certain age. As with age in general, you assess the demands of the job, not a date of birth: that is the principle behind our article on healthy aging at work.

Many of the changes Acas asks employers to consider in their risk assessment require no knowledge of anyone’s medical situation:

• workplace temperature and ventilation;
• uniforms whose material and fit do not cause overheating or discomfort;
• easy access to toilets, and the possibility of regular breaks;
• cold drinking water;
• a suitable place to rest if needed, such as a quiet room;
• more flexibility in roles that have very little.

These measures need to be tested with the teams concerned. A break that cannot be taken in practice is not a measure. A fan may be incompatible with some hygiene or safety constraints. Local analysis remains essential.

An employee may ask for an adjustment without wanting to mention menopause. The manager then talks about the work: heat, sleep, concentration, hours, uniform, travel. They do not ask for a diagnosis, do not suggest treatment and do not share anything with the team.

Occupational health is the medical point of contact: it can assess the employee’s health, advise the employer and recommend adjustments while respecting medical confidentiality. Possible adjustments depend on the job: temporarily changed hours, remote work where compatible, a cooler workstation, breaks, adapted travel, extra time on a demanding task. They are reviewed over time, because needs change. When fatigue comes from broken nights, the scheduling levers are those in our article on sleep and shift work.

Acas recommends private, confidential conversations in which the employee leads and decides how much to share. Managers should not make assumptions about symptoms, and should not pass anything on to colleagues without the employee’s permission: the employee decides what others may know and who tells them.

Not everyone will want to talk to their line manager first. Acas suggests offering someone else: a member of HR, a union representative, an employee assistance counselor or a trained menopause or wellbeing champion. A few simple questions keep conversations about work: “Which situations are difficult at the moment?”, “What temporary change would help?”, “Would you like to speak to occupational health?” Jokes, generalizations about age and comments about mood have no place. Finally, the policy covers harassment and discrimination: asking for an adjustment must never cost a promotion or a project.

In France, the frame already exists. Since March 31, 2022, Article L. 4121-3 of the Labor Code has required risk assessments to take account of the differentiated impact of exposure to risk according to sex. That does not mean recording anyone’s hormonal status: it means checking whether the design of jobs, equipment, schedules or protective gear creates different exposures or consequences.

In April 2025, a government mission led by Stéphanie Rist, then a member of parliament, devoted a full chapter of its report on menopause in France to work. It found that, with rare exceptions, French employers took menopause into account neither in management policies nor in social dialogue nor in occupational health. Among its recommendations: a “Menopause in the workplace” guide for managers and employees, and an assessment followed by a plan to adapt working conditions in each establishment.

The mission did not recommend a mandatory national menopause leave. It cited the risk of increasing hiring discrimination, especially in small businesses, and noted that ordinary sick leave already allows absence while keeping the medical cause confidential. Above all, it argued that leave and adapted working conditions are not alternatives: leave is not fully effective without rethinking the work environment.

A campaign aimed at “women over 45” can unintentionally reveal or assume personal information. It is often better to fold the topic into a broader policy on women’s health, life transitions and sustainable work, open to everyone.

Communications can cover how much symptoms vary, the option of seeing a health professional, the role of occupational health, how to request an adjustment and the confidentiality commitment. They do not recommend any treatment: that belongs to health professionals.

Indicators focus on working conditions rather than reported health: real access to breaks, time taken to handle adjustment requests, satisfaction with the process, managers trained, reports of stigmatizing behavior dealt with. Our method to measure a workplace health program explains how to choose them without exposing small teams.

Collecting symptoms in a company app means processing health data: it is never improvised. The safeguards to require (genuinely voluntary participation, individual data reserved for authorized professionals, aggregated reporting) are set out in our article on employee health privacy.

With MyTwin for employers, companies offer preventive health modules. Employees who wish to follow a personal pathway, coordinated by a MyTwin physician or by the company’s own medical team; the employer only sees aggregated results. This pathway replaces neither occupational health nor work on how work is organized.

1. Listen to how work is experienced, with employee representatives and occupational health.
2. Analyze the constraints and include them in the risk assessment.
3. Try out a few collective measures with the teams concerned.
4. Assess how accessible they are and how they affect the work, then adjust.