Employment Rights Act: here’s what menopause has to do with it

26th March 2026

Joanne Pagett

The law is changing, and menopause is now in the room

If you haven’t already heard, the Employment Rights Act is bringing in a significant change: from April 2027, equality action plans will be compulsory for employers with 250 or more employees. And menopause? It absolutely must be on the agenda.

I know what you might be thinking: another policy, another tick-box, another HR task to squeeze in between the actual running of a business. But hear me out. Because done well, this isn’t just a compliance exercise. It’s one of the smartest talent moves your organisation can make right now.

This is the final article in the Verditer series looking at the impact of the Employment Rights Act on pay gap reporting. Is your business ready for the equality action plan requirement, and specifically the section that requires evidence of actions you’re taking to support employees with menopause symptoms?

The business case (in one breath)

Retaining experienced women, many of whom are at the peak of their careers, costs a fraction of replacing them. Research from the British Menopause Society has found that 1 in 10 women have left their jobs because of menopause symptoms.

One in ten! That’s institutional knowledge, leadership capability, and hard-won client relationships walking out the door, often quietly and without explanation of the real reason.

Add in inclusion metrics, DEI commitments, B Corp frameworks, and the growing expectation from employees and customers alike that organisations walk their talk, and the case basically writes itself.

The data worth knowing

A few numbers worth bookmarking:

Around 900,000 women in the UK have left work due to menopause symptoms (CIPD, 2023).
Over 75% of menopausal women are in the workforce (British Menopause Society).
The average cost of replacing an employee is estimated at 50–200% of annual salary, a figure consistent with CIPD research on workforce turnover.
For further data, the CIPD Menopause in the Workplace report and Fawcett Society research are excellent starting points.

What a menopause-focused section should actually do

A menopause section in your Equality Action Plan isn’t a one-liner about ‘supporting wellbeing’. It should have depth and a clear purpose:

Raise awareness across the whole organisation, so menopause stops being a whispered word.
Prevent avoidable exits by addressing symptoms before they become a resignation letter.
Support retention of experienced women at the top of their game.
Establish a culture of reasonable adjustments, so women don’t have to suffer in silence to keep their seat at the table.

Start with a diagnostic, not a policy template

Before you write a single word of a plan, you need to know where the organisation actually is. I call this the ‘maturity check’, and it covers four areas:

Policies: Do you have menopause-specific guidance? Is it current, accessible, and well-known?
Workforce profile: What percentage of your workforce are women aged 45–60? You can’t plan for people you haven’t counted.
HR structure: Does your HR team have the knowledge and confidence to handle menopause-related conversations? Or do you need to bring in specialist help?
Culture: Do women in your organisation feel safe enough to disclose? Or are they more likely to call in sick and say nothing?
Leadership: Are your leaders equipped with the empathy needed to have these conversations while remaining objective?

This honest reckoning is where good plans are born. Skipping it is how you end up with a beautiful document that nobody reads. Aka, Forrest Fodder!

You need real data to build from, whether that’s from confidential surveys, focus group, or one-to-one interviews, psychological safety is everything here. If people don’t trust the process, they won’t tell you the truth. Get that bit right, and you’ll have gold.

What good looks like, by audience

Your plan will need to get this clear from the start.

For the organisation and leadership team, this could be about embedding menopause into existing policies, appointing a menopause champion and setting KPIs.

For line managers, this could be about training, practical conversation guides and escalation routes.

For individual employees, this may mean access to coaching and peer support, signposting to clinical resources, and flexible working options discussed proactively, not as a last resort

And don’t miss out operational and non office-based teams. This group is often forgotten entirely, and it drives me a little bit mad. Women on shop floors, in warehouses, in schools and care homes, they don’t have the luxury of nipping out to stand by an open window. Practical adjustments here could include access to fans and cold water, rota flexibility, and discreet uniform options.

The environment stuff nobody wants to admit they haven’t done

Some of this is wonderfully low-cost. Some require a bit more planning. But all of it sends a message:

Remote and hybrid flexibility, where the role allows it.
Cooling options in offices: desk fans, temperature controls, or at least windows that open.
Private spaces for women who need a moment to regulate (not the disabled loo).
Discreet support measures, extra uniform layers, cold packs available.

One client I worked with introduced a ‘no questions asked’ five-minute break policy for women in operational roles. Took three weeks to implement, and it transformed how those women felt about their employer. Sometimes the smallest things carry the loudest message.

Quick wins vs. the long game

Balance the low-cost, high-impact starting points with the longer programme.

Quick wins can include awareness sessions, menopause champions and adding menopause to an existing policy frameworks.

Longer term initiatives can include a full diagnostic audit and delivery plan from an external specialist, manager training series, and individual coaching programmes for women.

You don’t have to do it all at once. But you do have to start.

This isn’t just a menopause thing. It’s a bigger story.

Menopause doesn’t sit in a box on its own. It connects directly to your DEI strategy, your psychological safety culture, your leadership pipeline. And, if you’re B Corp certified or working towards it, your social impact commitments.

When organisations support women through menopause, they retain experience, deepen inclusion, and demonstrate that their values aren’t just framed on a wall somewhere. That’s not wellness washing. That’s leadership.

This is a guest article from menopause expert, Joanne Pagett. It is the final in our series exploring the impact of the Employment Rights Act 2025 on Pay Gap Reporting:

How we can help

At Verditer, we are specialists in reward including pay transparency and gap reporting. Contact us if you’re looking for external expertise to support with your gender pay gap or equality action plan.

Follow our LinkedIn company page and sign up for our newsletter to hear about future blogs.

Related Insights

Male and female children dressed as superheroes to show the importance of gender equity

Employment Rights Act: navigating the new era of pay gap reporting

The first in our series exploring the impact of the Employment Rights Act 2025 on Pay Gap Reporting.

Employment Rights Act: what makes a great gender pay gap voluntary narrative

The second in our series exploring the impact of the Employment Rights Act on pay gap reporting looks at voluntary narratives.

Business people talking in cafe - pay and reward consultancy

Contact us

Get in touch today

We’d love to hear from you. To find out how we can partner to get more out of reward, please enter your details below and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.