Work

Menopause at work

You can ask for cooler air, extra breaks, flexible hours and a uniform in a cooler fabric. ACAS good practice covers these requests in the UK, the Equality Act can apply where symptoms meet its disability test, and in the US severe symptoms may fall under the ADA.

By Ines Kovac. Published 22 October 2026. 6 minute read.

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Menopause and work: what you can ask for

Print the menopause symptom checklist to take to your GP before you speak to a manager. It shows how often each problem happens and how much it gets in the way of the day. If heat is what you need to show, log a week in the hot flush and night sweat diary.

Keep the meeting on the job. Longer notes on each symptom are in the menopause symptoms, hot flashes and mood and mind guides.

Why work feels harder during perimenopause and menopause

The NHS says you may have many symptoms, which can have a big impact on daily life, including relationships, social life, family life and work. It lists that impact for menopause and for perimenopause.

In October 2026, The Menopause Society reported a study of more than 1,600 employed women aged 45 to 60 in Japan. After adjustment, the Menopause Rating Scale psychological subscale had the strongest independent association with intending to leave a job. The somatic and urogenital subscales were not significant in that adjusted model. Those figures are from employed women in Japan. The release does not treat them as proof that symptoms cause resignation in the UK or the US.

Faubion, quoted in that release, said women need access to appropriate medical care, mental health support and workplace resources during the menopause transition. Low mood and anxiety are covered in HRT, anxiety and low mood. Concentration is covered in brain fog in menopause.

Menopause workplace adjustments that employers already name

Heat is one group. ACAS says there is no legal maximum or minimum working temperature, and UK employers have a duty of care to keep temperatures reasonable. A menopause risk assessment can cover workplace temperature and ventilation, and uniform material or fit if the clothing might make workers too hot (ACAS: supporting staff).

The Menopause Society's 2024 workplace consensus says symptoms may worsen with poor ventilation, higher ambient temperatures, and restrictive bathroom or break policies. It suggests better ventilation, temperature control, and access to ice, fans or showers.

Time and a quiet corner are the next group. On its page about talking with staff, ACAS gives examples that include flexible start and finish times, breaks, a private area where someone can rest, homeworking, and control of the environment.

When someone is off sick because of menopause, ACAS says the employer should record those absences separately from other absences.

Menopause reasonable adjustments in UK law

Equality and Human Rights Commission guidance says that if menopause or perimenopause symptoms have a long-term and substantial impact on a woman's ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities, these symptoms could be considered a disability. Whether that description fits depends on the person's symptoms.

The same guidance says women may also be protected from discrimination, harassment and victimisation on the grounds of age and sex.

ACAS says it is good practice to focus on supporting the person rather than trying to work out if someone's condition is a disability. Where the test is met, disability law may still require adjustments.

EHRC guidance on workplace adjustments says employers should discuss adjustments with the worker. What is reasonable depends on the size of the organisation.

Menopause and work rights in the US

A US Department of Labor brief says federal law currently has no explicit protection against discrimination based on menopause. The same brief says symptoms may, in some instances, meet the definitions in the Americans with Disabilities Act, even though menopause itself is not classed as a disability.

EEOC guidance on disability discrimination and reasonable accommodation includes altered schedules so an employee can work around medical appointments, or take more frequent breaks.

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act requires covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations for a worker's known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless that would cause undue hardship. Menopause is not named in that duty.

How to tell your boss about menopause

ACAS says employers and line managers should invite workers to talk privately about how menopause affects them at work and what could help. The conversation stays confidential, and the worker leads it.

The EHRC has noted that few workers request adjustments, often because they fear the reaction. A written note of one or two changes from the list above, each tied to a task that is slipping, gives the meeting something concrete. ACAS says those changes should be agreed in writing, with follow-up conversations.

In US discussions, people often describe the request as a medical condition and a reasonable accommodation, sometimes without saying menopause. HR or a doctor's note comes up in those conversations, and the request is put in writing. Homeworking is one ACAS example. UK discussions often describe it being turned down, and they point people back to ACAS.

Some people report flexible hours or lighter duties after they told a manager. Others keep the medical detail short, because of the reaction the EHRC noted.

Medical help that supports staying at work

The October release puts medical care and support for mood next to workplace resources. A GP is the person who starts or changes any medicine.

Hormone replacement therapy for menopause explains what HRT is and the forms it comes in. How to start HRT lists questions for a first appointment. If low mood is what makes the job feel unsustainable, use the mood guide above.

If night sweats are what make the next shift hard, insomnia in menopause separates help for sweats from CBT aimed at insomnia. Hot flash relief options with evidence sets out cooling and CBT for flushes.

If the conversation goes badly

People who want to share less often keep the note to the task that is slipping and the change that would let them do it. Menopause goes in that note only when they choose to name it. The written record is the follow-up ACAS already describes.

My take

I would take the checklist into the meeting, ask for one change that matches the task I am struggling with, and ask for the agreement to be written down. I would include the word menopause only if I wanted it on the record. Before I relied on the Equality Act or the ADA, I would want the symptoms checked against those tests. Both depend on that person's symptoms and on the job they do.