The missing seventh action: what Britain’s new menopause plans leave out

By Pia Clinton-Tarestad, CEO And Co-Founder, Clean Slate Clinic

The Employment Rights Act puts menopause on the boardroom agenda for the first time. But the Government’s list of actions overlooks one of the least visible ways women manage symptoms at work. For years, menopause support at work has depended on the goodwill of individual employers, but now, updates to the Employment Rights Act 2025 will change that.

From 2027, it will be mandatory for employers with 250 or more staff to publish an equality action plan alongside their gender pay gap data, and for the first time that plan must include support for employees going through menopause. This is a significant step for women in the second half of their careers. It moves menopause from a wellbeing initiative to a governance issue. Any plans set out by an employer also require a rationale for the actions chosen and annual progress updates.

Menopause is a significant element of employee retention, and it’s costing employers experienced people. The CIPD found that two-thirds (67%) of working women with menopause symptoms say those symptoms have had a mostly negative effect on them at work, and more than half (53%) have been unable to go to work at some point because of them. Similarly, UK-based charity the Fawcett Society found that one in ten women who worked through menopause had left a job because of their symptoms. Employers are coming to realise that it’s a significant business impact when those women take years of experience and expertise with them, without supporting their needs in real-time.

The missing piece

The Government’s guidance for the new action plans lists 18 actions, six of them specific to menopause. Employers must choose at least one: manager training, occupational health advice, support groups and networks, workplace adjustments, a risk assessment or a policy review. Each has merit, but together they say little about how women are actually coping. Alcohol, sleep and anxiety are not mentioned at all, and only support groups refer to mental health as a general aim.

What the government, or employers alike may not realise, is that the symptoms that most affect performance are often the least visible, and when support is absent, women seek to find their own solutions. A UK study of 936 women aged 40 to 65, published just last year, found more than half were drinking at hazardous levels. Women in perimenopause had the highest scores and the lowest wellbeing, and drinking to cope with difficult feelings partly explained the link.

Yet alcohol can also worsen the very symptoms women think it might help ‘manage’, by disrupting sleep and deepening anxiety and lowering mood. It rarely appears in an absence report as alcohol, but as fatigue, short-term sickness or a capable employee quietly resigning.

What we see in practice

Treatment data points the same way: of 184 people assessed by our UK service between October 2025 and August 2026, around a third were working professionals with an average age of 46, and almost half of them women. Nearly half arrived with moderate or severe depression, and 45% had never received mental-health treatment. We do not record menopause status, but the profile is clear: mid-career, high-functioning and often seeking help for the first time.

My own experience of alcohol dependence during a senior career in healthcare, taught me that knowing the risks is not the same as being able to act on them. The greater barrier was the fear that asking for help would put my career at risk. Workplace support only works if it removes that fear.

The seventh action

This is not about monitoring what employees drink, which would only drive the issue further out of sight. It is about plans that reflect the full picture, through four practical steps.

● Broaden manager training. Cover sleep, anxiety and coping strategies, including alcohol, so managers can recognise when someone is struggling and open a supportive conversation.

● Make support confidential and visible. Ensure occupational health and employee assistance services offer discreet help with alcohol, outside the line-management chain, and signpost it in the menopause policy. For anyone who is physically dependent, stopping suddenly can be dangerous, so pathways should lead to clinical advice.

● Review workplace culture. Where events centre on alcohol, make alcohol-free options the norm rather than the exception.

● Use the data. Track absence and take-up of support among women aged 40 to 60, as the guidance suggests, and act on what it shows.

A window to get it right

This voluntary year is a rehearsal for the mandatory plans that follow. Employers that address the whole picture, including the coping strategies women rarely talk about, will do more than comply. They will keep experienced talent that others lose. World Menopause Day, on 18 October, is a timely prompt for HR leaders to ask one question of their plan: does it support how women are really managing, or only how we assume they are?

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Well Crowd. This content is for information and discussion purposes only and should not be taken as medical, health, or professional advice.