Allow for control over temperature settings at work to support women experiencing hot flashes related to menopause. This may be done by providing employees access to small fans, cooling devices, or space heaters to use in their workspaces.

When possible, allow for temporary schedule adjustments and remote work options. Creating this culture of flexibility can help employees better manage menopause symptoms or care for family and spouses from the comfort of home. Bank of America creates this culture by offering women experiencing menopause symptoms flexible working hours or remote work options.

Offer education and training on midlife health to increase staff awareness and knowledge. Education and training for both midlife women and other employees can expand their knowledge about the menopause transition and increased cardiovascular disease risk that occurs as women age. This can be done by partnering with your health plan or using resources from The Menopause Society to offer education during manager training, onboarding, or as part of an educational newsletter. For example, Kaiser Permanente in Portland offers employees virtual classes that discuss menopause symptom treatment options, bladder control tips, and sexual education focused on concerns like reduced libido, vaginal dryness, and other midlife concerns.

Create spaces where employees feel safe and empowered to share their midlife experiences. This can be done by partnering with employee resource groups (ERGs) to organize events to discuss women’s experiences and how individual women navigate them. You can also offer access to online support groups through partnerships with femtech startups like Maven Clinic or education organizations like Red Hot Mamas.

Guarantee coverage of menopause symptom treatments. On average, employed women spend 18% more than men in annual out-of-pocket costs, excluding pregnancy-related expenses. To close this gap, you can make sure your health plan covers the needs of women in midlife. This includes coverage of menopause symptom treatments such as hormone therapies, vaginal lubricants, and nonhormonal medications.

Enhance coverage of comprehensive weight-management support. During the menopause transition, women often gain abdominal fat, which increases cardiovascular disease risk. This increase in abdominal fat often bothers women, leading them to seek weight management services more than men. Enhancing coverage of personalized weight-management services could improve long-term health outcomes (and lower health costs) among women, as well as improve job recruitment and retention efforts. This is demonstrated by a national survey that found 44% of people with obesity would change jobs to gain coverage for obesity treatment. Several organizations are now offering employers personalized weight management solutions, such as Optum Rx, Found, and WeightWatchers for Business.¹

Expand access to behavioral health and menopause providers. Work with your health plan to cover mental health providers and clinicians trained in menopause care. Health plans can help by increasing the number of these providers included in-network. This year, Aetna partnered with Gennev to increase in-network access to virtual menopause services for all commercial health plans. You could also expand access via direct partnerships with hospitals, health systems, or startups offering behavioral health and menopause services.

Provide paid sick leave for preventive care and menopause symptom treatment. Employers that offer paid leave will directly enable preventive care like early detection and treatment of chronic diseases that commonly occur among midlife women. This has the potential to reduce healthcare costs over time and could also reduce unnecessary emergency room visits associated with menopause symptoms.

Reduce turnover with paid leave for caregivers. Offering paid leave for caregiving can reduce turnover and improve productivity. Sanofi offers four weeks of paid leave for employees caring for parents, children, or spouses with a serious health condition. Eight states also have government-mandated family leave programs available.

• Provide child and elder care assistance. High U.S. caregiving costs drive many women in midlife to leave the workforce. Organizations that provide childcare assistance for employees can reduce employee absences by up to 30% and job turnover by as much as 60%. Employers that have on-site childcare centers or contract with childcare programs are also eligible for tax credits.
• Offer dependent care assistance programs. A dependent care assistance program (DCAP) or dependent care flexible spending account (FSA) is an employer-sponsored benefit that allows employees to have a pre-tax percentage of their wages deducted from each paycheck for certain caregiving expenses, such as eldercare or childcare. Offering DCAPs and matching employee contributions can help reduce out-of-pocket costs for caregiving. DCAPs can also help employers save on taxes, as it reduces an employee’s taxable salary.
• Provide backup childcare and eldercare benefits. Employers can partner with childcare organizations or private health plans to offer backup childcare and eldercare assistance if regular care falls through. Since instituting a backup childcare program in partnership with Bright Horizons, Sanofi has saved more than 2,200 workdays for employees that would have otherwise taken time off.
• Expand access to wellness services with supplemental benefit and discount programs. Employers can partner with health plans or supplemental benefit providers to offer discounts on wellness services. This includes services not considered “medically necessary” for health plan coverage, like acupuncture and chiropractic care. These services may help relieve menopause symptoms, especially for patients who can’t or don’t want to use hormonal treatment options. Kaiser Permanente offers employees a supplemental plan for acupuncture and chiropractic care in partnership with American Specialty Health.