Menopause Action Plans Are Coming — Here’s What Employers Need to Know
The Employment Rights Act is making menopause a boardroom issue. From 2027, every UK employer with 250 or more employees will be legally required to publish a Menopause Action Plan. It’s a landmark shift — and one that many organisations are not yet prepared for.
What the law requires
The new legislation means affected employers must submit a their Action Plan including the steps they are taking to reduce their gender pay gap and support employees through menopause via a government portal, signed off by senior leaders and made publicly available. At a minimum, organisations must take at least two concrete actions — not just publish a statement of intent.
But the requirements go further than that. Organisations will need to understand their workforce’s needs (including intersectional factors), provide practical workplace adjustments, train managers and staff, secure senior leadership buy-in, and monitor and report on progress. Plans must also align with wider gender equality goals.
While there’s no legal obligation to consult your workforce in developing the plan, doing so is strongly recommended — and will almost certainly produce a better result.
Why this matters more than you think
It’s tempting to take a minimal compliance approach. After all, the legislation says “at least two concrete actions.” But there are good reasons to do much more.
The reputational risk is real. These plans will be publicly available. Non-compliant organisations face “naming and shaming,” and plans that appear performative will invite scrutiny. In a competitive talent market, your Action Plan will become part of your employer brand.
The legal risk is significant. Menopause-related symptoms are regularly found to satisfy the definition of disability under section 6 of the Equality Act 2010. Complex discrimination claims make up approximately 70% of Employment Tribunal cases, with disability discrimination the most common type. Crucially, liability for menopause discrimination is potentially uncapped, creating a strategic incentive for claimants, particularly high earners.
The business cost of inaction is measurable. One NHS Trust tracked the impact of their menopause interventions and found that of 816 colleagues engaged, 88% reported the support helped them stay well and in work. The Trust estimated this represented a potential indirect saving of £3.3 million per year in sickness absence costs alone.
The hidden challenge
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: because menopause is still stigmatised, many employees don’t disclose their symptoms, don’t request support, and simply struggle in silence. The organisational costs are significant — reduced productivity, presenteeism, avoidance of senior roles, increased sick days, and the loss of experienced mid-career professionals at the peak of their careers.
This is compounded by the reality of NHS provision. The average wait to see a gynaecologist is 60–70 weeks. Over half of NHS commissioning areas have no menopause clinic at all. GP access and treatment pathways are inconsistent. Many employees are navigating this without adequate medical support, which makes workplace support all the more important.
What good looks like
The most effective organisations treat menopause as a workforce strategy issue — connected to retention, leadership pipeline, and inclusion — rather than just a wellbeing initiative.
Education and awareness form the foundation. Managers need training on recognising when an employee may need support, having respectful conversations, and understanding their legal obligations around reasonable adjustments. Information guides, expert speakers, and awareness campaigns all play a role.
Practical adjustments often make the biggest difference, and many are low-cost: flexible working, desk fans, temperature control, uniform flexibility, temporary workload adjustments, and workplace adjustment passports that formalise ongoing support.
Policy and governance need attention too. Existing policies on flexible working, leave, and absence should be reviewed to explicitly accommodate menopause-related needs. Clear, confidential channels for raising concerns are essential.
Culture is the glue. Appointing menopause champions, creating communication channels, running regular feedback surveys, and — perhaps most powerfully — making senior leadership visibly supportive all help shift the conversation from taboo to normal. One organisation found that asking senior leaders to hold up signs with menopause symptoms produced the biggest single increase in training engagement they’d ever seen.
What to avoid
Some common pitfalls: publishing a policy without training managers to implement it; treating menopause as purely a medical issue; assuming flexible working alone is sufficient; framing it only as a “women’s issue”; and — critically — treating the action plan as a tick-box exercise rather than embedding it in your organisation’s culture.
A menopause action plan can’t be looked at in isolation. It needs to be part of an organisation’s culture. Otherwise it can feel tokenistic.
Start now
You don’t need to wait for 2027. There are quick wins that signal commitment: providing free period products, making desk fans easily available, creating simple processes for requesting adjustments, launching a champions network, and getting senior leaders visibly involved.
The organisations that start now will be better prepared, better informed by employee feedback, and better positioned to attract and retain the experienced professionals they can’t afford to lose.
Supporting employees through menopause is both a moral and business imperative. When organisations get this right, they don’t just comply with the law — they build workplaces where talented people can thrive at every stage of their career.