What the Employment Rights Act 2025 means for menopause at work
October marks Menopause Awareness Month, with World Menopause Day taking place on 18 October. It’s an opportunity to raise awareness and encourage conversations about menopause in the workplace.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces action plans for employers with 250 or more employees. This marks an important step towards creating healthier, more inclusive workplaces, because no one should feel they have to reduce their hours, pass up promotions or abandon their career due to a lack of support.
As part of our commitment to making preventative healthcare more accessible, Medicash recently introduced perimenopause and menopause support to our members at no extra cost. Delivered through our service partner, Adora Digital Health, the service offers personalised assessments, symptom tracking and an evidence-based wellbeing hub with articles, videos and monthly webinars.
To mark Menopause Awareness Month, we caught up with Ann O’Neill, CEO & Co-Founder of Adora, to discuss what these changes mean in practice.
How do you think the Employment Rights Act 2025 will change the workplace landscape when it comes to menopause support?
The Employment Rights Act 2025 is the first piece of UK legislation to name menopause directly, and that alone marks a real shift. It requires private sector employers with 250 or more employees to publish an annual ‘equality action plan’ setting out the steps they’re taking on the gender pay gap and on supporting employees through menopause.
In practice, this moves menopause support from a nice-to-have into an expected part of good governance and reporting. Organisations that build genuine capability, rather than treat it as a box-ticking exercise, will be far better placed to improve retention and engagement.
What does a good menopause action plan look like, and what should it include?
A good plan covers perimenopause and post menopause, not just menopause itself, and treats the actions as living commitments to review rather than a one-off document. The BS 30416 standard on menstruation, menstrual health and menopause in the workplace is also a genuinely useful framework for organisations building a plan from scratch.
For organisations with fewer than 250 employees, what are some simple ways they can better support employees experiencing perimenopause and menopause?
Action plans under the Act are aimed at larger employers, but the underlying legal duties apply regardless of size, and smaller organisations are just as capable of getting the basics right.
Some of the highest-impact changes cost very little: flexible working, simple workplace adjustments, short breaks, and flexibility around medical appointments. Appointing a menopause champion, training managers, and signposting the benefits already in place can make a real difference without needing a formal policy from day one.
Menopause can still feel like a taboo subject at work. What practical steps can employers take to encourage more open and supportive conversations?
Culture, more than any single benefit, is what determines whether people feel able to speak up. Visible leadership, including men, talking about menopause as a normal workplace topic rather than a private problem sends a powerful signal from the top.
Beyond that, train managers so they feel confident having supportive conversations without needing to be experts. Appoint a menopause champion, build regular wellbeing check-ins into normal management practice, and use inclusive language. Normalising the conversation before someone needs to raise it is what lowers the barrier to asking for help.
What should employers consider when drafting a menopause policy, and what is expected of line managers and HR teams?
The best policies start with conversations, not paperwork. Gathering feedback from employees before finalising anything increases both relevance and buy-in. They should have visible senior sign-off, sit alongside existing flexible working and wellbeing policies, and be reviewed regularly as employees’ needs change.
A well-constructed policy should include a clear statement of commitment, guidance for managers on approaching conversations sensitively, how employees can request support, and a non-exhaustive list of reasonable adjustments.
Line managers are expected to have empathetic, non-judgemental conversations and signpost support – not diagnose or categorise. HR’s role is to make sure the policy is genuinely accessible, that manager training actually happens, and that requests for adjustments are handled consistently.
What trusted resources or guidance would you recommend for employers looking to improve their approach to menopause in the workplace?
A few starting points worth knowing about are the Government’s guidance on equality action plans and its list of 18 recommended actions, ACAS’s practical guidance on menopause at work, the BS 30416 standard, and CIPD’s menopause resources for HR teams.
Beyond published guidance, we’d also encourage employers to consider what digital health support can add. Platforms like Adora help bridge the gap between guidance and practical day-to-day support for employees experiencing perimenopause and menopause.
Want to strengthen your organisations approach to menopause? Discover how Medicash health plans can help you build a healthier, more inclusive workforce.
Building a more supportive workplace
As Ann highlights, menopause isn’t a single experience. The most effective support starts with creating a workplace culture where people feel comfortable talking openly and managers feel confident offering support.
An estimated 1 in 10 women leave the workforce because of menopausal symptoms, with menopause costing the UK economy around £1.7 billion each year through lost employment, absenteeism and presenteeism.
While action plans apply to larger employers, every organisation can take meaningful steps to support employees experiencing perimenopause and menopause.
To learn more, download our free ‘Employer’s Guide to Menopause at Work’ today.