Number of Employers Offering Menopause Benefits Increases Only Negligibly from Last Year

Menopause benefits barely budged in the past year despite a growing call for them, according to a new report.

About 5% of U.S. employers currently offer menopause-specific benefits, up just slightly from the 4% that offered them last year, according to a survey by NFP, a global benefits consultant and property and casualty insurance broker. The survey recorded answers from 620 respondents responsible for creating and updating leave management policies.

That finding is both surprising and disappointing as a growing number of employees are clamoring for the benefit, said Maria Trapenasso, SHRM-SCP, senior vice president and head of human capital solutions at NFP. For instance, a 2023 Bank of America report found that 64% of working women within menopause age are asking for support and accommodations at work.

“I don’t believe that organizational leaders understand the financial impact of neglecting support for this cohort,” Trapenasso said. “Right now, studies show that menopause symptoms can cost U.S. employers $1.8 billion annually due to missed work, with total estimated productivity losses around $26 billion per year.”

And that financial impact will only continue to increase, she added. By 2025, over 1 billion people worldwide will be experiencing menopause, according to NFP’s research.

Although the NFP data shows that there hasn’t been much movement in the past year, many industry insiders point to menopause support as a growing trend. Momentum for menopause benefits continues to build as employees call for more support and help from their employers—especially in the women’s health arena.

SHRM even included menopause-specific support in its 2024 Employee Benefits Survey—the first time it included the benefit since it started its annual survey in 1996. SHRM’s report found a higher number of employers offering menopause benefits than NFP’s survey: According to the report,17% of employers provide related support, such as counseling and education. SHRM also found that 2% offer menopause or menstrual leave above what is already covered by regular sick time. (Industry surveys often vary due to the kinds of employers surveyed.)

“With things like menopause, I think it’s becoming more a part of the conversation,” said Daniel Stunes, manager of data monetization with SHRM Data and Insights. “The more comfortable people are talking about it, the more businesses hear about it. And the more businesses hear about it, the more they realize, ‘Maybe we should do something about that.’ ”

There is evidence to back up this sense that menopause benefits are more in demand. Companies including Microsoft and pharmaceutical firm Sanofi are among a small but growing cache of employers offering menopause benefits or support to workers. Benefits include hormone therapy, physical therapy for pelvic-floor issues, access to specialists in menopause care, and menopause-specific paid leave.

“There’s certainly some buzz about it,” Julie Stich, vice president of content at the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, told SHRM last year. “It’s not widespread among U.S. companies, but there are some rumblings about it.”

Other Leave Trends

The NFP report also found that some leave benefits have inched up in other areas over the past year.

Notably, employers were more generous this year when it came to the amount of time offered for paid parental leave. The data shows that 32% of employers now offer three to six weeks of leave with full pay for the birth of a child, up from 26% last year. And 33% of employers offer three to six weeks of parental leave for adoption, also up from 26% last year.

“This is a positive change in the right direction because parental leave typically is for all new parents regardless of how a new child enters the home,” Trapenasso said.

Interestingly, though, paid time off (PTO) leave plans were less common this year. NFP found that 58% of employers offered PTO plans in 2024—down from 72% in 2023. This could be an indication that more employers are moving back to traditional vacation and sick pay policies to ensure compliance with state vacation and sick leave laws, Trapenasso said. “While the adoption of the remote workforce has its advantages, various state compliance issues can be a challenge,” she said.

Another major finding from the report: While employers broadly view their leave management policies as strategic assets for their total rewards programs, nearly one-third (32%) said they don’t think their employees have a good grasp of these policies, and almost half (43%) conveyed that their policies aren’t helping them retain talent.

To address this problem, employers should conduct pulse surveys regularly, Trapenasso said.

“It seems that there could be a disconnect between what employers are offering and what employees really need and want,” she said. “This has a lot to do with where employees are in their life, so it’s a good practice to conduct surveys to ask employees what they value most. Focusing benefit dollars on these leave offerings is prudent and will show employees that you value their opinion.”