Nearly one in five women don't know whether their workplace offers menopause support
Thirty-five percent of working women in Canada and the United States say their workplace offers no perimenopause or menopause support of any kind, and a further 19 percent do not know whether any exists.
Twelve percent reported a formal workplace policy on menopause and 8 percent reported manager training, according to The Menopause Blind Spot, a survey by Cashew Research.
Flexible hours or remote work was the most commonly reported measure at 20 percent.
Paid leave that could cover perimenopause or menopause needs followed at 16 percent, while an open culture where menopause can be discussed and temperature control or environmental accommodations each reached 14 percent.
Among working Gen X women, the group Cashew identifies as most likely to be going through menopause, 53 percent report no support at all, against 11 percent of Gen Z.
Across the full sample, 32 percent have missed days or called in sick because of perimenopause or menopause, and 25 percent have hidden symptoms from a manager or colleagues out of fear of being judged.
Thirteen percent have reduced their hours, 9 percent have considered leaving their job, 8 percent have delayed or declined a promotion or leadership opportunity and 7 percent have left a job or retired early.
Gen X respondents were the most likely to have missed days, at 37 percent.
Cashew found 84 percent of respondents would feel comfortable discussing perimenopause or menopause with a healthcare provider, against 40 percent for coworkers or a manager.
Gen Z was the least comfortable with coworkers, at 30 percent.
Six percent said they had come across information about perimenopause or menopause through workplace or employer resources, compared with 44 percent through a healthcare provider.
"We're talking about menopause more than ever, but women are telling us that awareness hasn't translated into feeling prepared or supported," said Addy Graves, CEO of Cashew, in the company's news release.
Twenty-three percent agreed that workplaces and employers offer enough support for those going through menopause, the lowest-scoring statement in that question.
Asked what would help most going forward, 18 percent selected workplace policies or manager training, behind routine screening questions at checkups at 45 percent and required perimenopause and menopause training for doctors at 37 percent.
Nineteen percent of Canadian respondents said a provider raised menopause with them first, against 29 percent in the United States, while 35 percent of Canadian respondents had raised it themselves, against 24 percent of US respondents.
The Menopause Policy Agenda for Canada asks federal, provincial and territorial governments to mandate menopause-inclusive workplace action plans for all employers with more than 500 employees, with governments leading by example.
The Menopause Foundation of Canada document also calls for menopause to be included as a named, prohibited ground of discrimination in federal, provincial and territorial human rights legislation, and for a policy guide confirming that women in menopause are protected under the grounds of sex, age and disability.
Unmanaged menopause symptoms account for 540,000 lost workdays and $237m in lost productivity for Canadian employers each year, within a $3.5bn annual cost to the Canadian economy that includes $3.3bn in personal income loss, the agenda states, citing the foundation's 2023 Menopause and work in Canada report.
It puts the number of working women over 40 in Canada at five million, or one-quarter of the paid workforce.
More than 240 companies have joined the foundation's Menopause Works Here campaign, including Sun Life, BMO and PwC Canada, and 700 human resource and business leaders attended its first Employer Best Practices event in 2025, according to the agenda.
Michelle Jacobson, a member of the foundation's medical advisory board in Ontario, said in the agenda that workplaces can help close the menopause knowledge gap and reduce stigma.
She said she supports patients at the peak of their careers who "don't want symptoms to derail their success."
