World Menopause Awareness Day 2025

• One in ten women leave work because of menopause symptoms, representing a major loss of skill and experience.
• Two thirds of women report menopause as having a mostly negative impact on their working lives, with increased stress and physical symptoms making jobs harder to sustain without support.
• Severe symptoms can be recognised as a disability under the Equality Act 2010, creating a duty for employers to make reasonable adjustments and prevent discrimination.
• Support options are mostly low-cost and easy to implement. For example, relaxing dress codes, encouraging open conversations and allowing flexibility around hours, breaks and medical appointments.

Menopause symptoms are varied and often inconsistent between women, but the most common include fatigue, hot flushes, anxiety, memory lapses and poor sleep.

On their own, these symptoms are difficult enough. At work, they can be unmanageable.

Research by the Fawcett Society found that one in ten women employed during the menopause leave work because of the symptoms.

Essentially, women feel forced to quit their jobs because they’re incompatible with menopause.

For those who stay, the impact is still significant. Many reduce their hours, cap their ambitions or carry on in silence – which only makes a challenging situation more stressful.

Either outcome costs employers: Lose essential staff at the height of their knowledge and experience, often under bitter circumstances, or see productivity and performance drop because support isn’t available.

But with that workplace support, your most skilled staff can remain in their roles and continue contributing at their best.

Research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) found that two thirds (67%) of working women aged 40–60 with experience of menopause said their symptoms affected them negatively at work.

Among those affected:

• 68% said they experienced more stress. This stress mostly came from the expectation to continue working as normal while managing unpredictable symptoms. The pressure was worse in workplaces where menopause was considered taboo or solely a personal issue.
• 49% said they felt less patient with clients and colleagues. It’s easy to understand why some women felt this way when you consider the fact that sudden changes in mood, irritability and anxiety are all recognised effects of menopause, as is broken sleep and consistent fatigue. A lack of empathy was also a contributing factor.
• 46% said they felt less physically able to carry out tasks. Symptoms such as night sweats, hot flushes, joint pain and headaches reduce stamina and comfort. For women in physically demanding jobs, this can limit what they can safely do. Even in office roles, persistent tiredness makes routine tasks more draining.

In fact, more than half of those surveyed reported times when they were unable to work because of their symptoms.

This wasn’t for a lack of willingness, but rigid expectations and conditions that make work harder than it needs to be.

This inflexibility may stem from the false belief that making adjustments for employees with menopause is too expensive. Some employers even settle on letting women struggle – or letting them go – as the more cost-effective option.

However, supporting employees through menopause doesn’t require sweeping reforms. In most cases, the changes are small, practical and low-cost.

You can start making your workplace more menopause-friendly today. The British Menopause Society has highlighted solutions that are low-cost yet high-impact:

Hot flushes are harder to manage if you’re wearing an unforgiving or formal outfit.

If you expect your workers to wear a uniform, choose lighter, breathable fabrics. In other workplaces, a relaxed dress code will give your employees more freedom to dress for their symptoms, helping to keep them comfortable and productive.

Everyone struggles to work in overly warm or stuffy environments. For women experiencing menopause, temperatures can uncomfortable at a lower point.

You can combat this with personal adjustments that are inexpensive but highly effective:

• Provide desk fans
• Make chilled drinking water readily available
• Move workstations closer to windows or air conditioning vents

Common menopause symptoms like fatigue, disrupted sleep and joint pain often collide with rigid hours or shift patterns.

Flexibility around start times, breaks and medical appointments helps employees manage their energy while continuing to perform their roles.

Far from being disruptive, these adjustments often prevent skilled staff from leaving the workforce altogether.

The most important step is cultural, not physical. When employees know they can ask for help without stigma, they’re far more likely to stay and succeed.

Managers need the training and confidence to talk openly about menopause. Creating this culture may take a little more time, but it unlocks every other form of support.

Denying menopause support carries real legal risks.

Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, employers must ensure the health, safety and welfare of their employees.

If menopause symptoms affect an employee’s ability to carry out their role safely or comfortably, you must update your risk assessments accordingly.

For example, hot flushes and dizziness are far harder to manage in stuffy work areas with poor ventilation. In these conditions, employees experiencing these menopause symptoms are at risk of exhaustion and subsequent accidents.

Risks can also be psychological. Menopause symptoms are unpredictable, and the pressure to keep performing “as normal” often adds a heavy mental burden. Prolonged stress like this can be as harmful as any physical hazard, so employers are expected to manage both.

The Equality Act 2010 protects employees from unfair treatment tied to nine protected characteristics. Menopause itself isn’t one of the nine, but tribunals have consistently recognised that symptoms can fall within other protected characteristics, such as disability.

This means that failing to support employees through menopause can leave organisations exposed to claims of discrimination or harassment, as first proven by Rooney v Leicester City Council (2021).

Ms Rooney, a social worker, resigned after struggling with severe menopausal symptoms including fatigue, anxiety and memory loss. She alleged that her managers had been dismissive and unsupportive.

An employment tribunal initially dismissed her claims, ruling that her symptoms did not amount to a disability. However, this decision was overturned on appeal, and her symptoms could, in fact, be considered a disability under the Equality Act. This ruling sets a precedent for future tribunals hearing claims of menopause discrimination.

Cases like this often arise not from malice but from stigma and ignorance. When managers dismiss menopause as “just a personal issue,” they expose their organisation to real legal risk. The first and most important step in reducing this risk is raising awareness. Your managers must be equipped to openly discuss menopause and available support.

In 2025, too many women are still leaving work or facing discrimination because their employers are unprepared for menopause. That loss of skill and experience hurts organisations, and it creates legal and reputational risks that are entirely avoidable.

Our CPD-certified Menopause Awareness Training course provides a practical solution. Delivered online, it gives managers and staff an understanding of menopause, its symptoms and ways to offer support when it’s needed.

By increasing understanding and offering clear strategies – from simple adjustments to open conversations – you can better support and retain valued employees, while also strengthening compliance with both health and safety and equality law.