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Free toolkit · Menopause at work

The menopause-at-work toolkit. Print, adapt, share.

A four-minute readiness check plus thirteen gold-standard templates for the conversations, policies, benefits and paperwork that menopause at work actually requires. Free. No login. Built so HR teams, line managers, internal champions, employee networks and individuals can take what they need and use it tomorrow.

How to use this toolkit

  • · Open any item. Hit Print, or save as PDF.
  • · Adapt the bracketed [PLACEHOLDERS] for your workplace.
  • · Keep the small Nila credit line at the bottom, that's all we ask.
  • · Forward to whoever needs it: HR, your manager, a friend.

For employees

The private pathway, disclosure scripts, your rights at work.

For employers

The business case, team plans, privacy and procurement.

Why workplaces are paying attention

The cost of doing nothing, in three numbers.

47%

of women said menopause symptoms disrupted their work.

1 in 4

considered leaving or reducing hours because symptoms weren't being supported at work.

15%

were assessed as a flight risk to their employer because of unmanaged menopause.

Source: Korn Ferry × Vira Health, Menopause at Work survey (full citation in the references at the bottom of this page).

The wider cost of care gaps

66%

of U.S. women who couldn't get needed healthcare said that gap affected their work.

20% vs 7%

of U.S. women who had experienced menopause reported cutting their hours, comparing household incomes below $50,000 with $100,000 or more.

Sources: Gallup and Pivotal Women's Health Survey, 2026; menopause income analysis reported by Marie Claire from Gallup and Pivotal data. These are self-reported U.S. findings.

Don't plan only for managers

National records from Norway and Sweden found earnings were 10% lower four years after a menopause diagnosis, mostly because people cut hours or left work. The drop was biggest for people in manual or routine jobs, without a degree, or at smaller private employers, and better access to care eased it. Shift, hourly and on-your-feet roles need adjustments too: breaks you can take, cooler uniforms, swaps without penalty, and time off for appointments.

Source: Conti, Ginja, Persson and Willage, The Menopause "Penalty", 2025. A working paper, not yet peer reviewed.

ISO 45010

How this toolkit lines up with the new international standard

In September 2026, ISO and BSI published ISO 45010, the first international guidance on supporting menstruation and menopause at work. It's guidance, not law. This toolkit covers the menopause side of it, free.

Behind the standard: a BSI survey of 6,494 women in seven countries found 68% think employers have a role in supporting them, about 7 in 10 want a clear process for support, and 6 in 10 had never heard their employer bring up menopause support. Sources: BSI, September 2026; Open Access Government.

Start here · For HR

Workplace readiness check

Twelve questions, four minutes, nothing leaves your browser. Get your stage, the specific gaps you named with the template that closes each one, an honest headcount estimator built on Canadian survey rates, and a 90-day order of operations.

HR / People lead · 4 min interactiveOpen

For the employee

Manager conversation script + adjustments request

A short, word-for-word script for the 1:1 with your line manager, plus a one-page reasonable-adjustments request you can hand to them or HR.

Employee · 5 min read · 2-page printOpen

For line managers

10-minute manager micro-training

The crib sheet for the manager whose 1:1 is this afternoon: what to say, what to avoid, what to offer, what to write down. Read before the meeting.

Line manager · 10 min read · 2-page printOpen

For HR

Menopause workplace policy template

A drop-in policy doc your HR team can adapt: definitions, adjustments, sick-leave handling, line-manager responsibilities, confidentiality, review cycle. Built from CIPD (UK), SHRM (US) and the Menopause Society consensus.

HR / People team · 10 min read · 4-page printOpen

For line managers

Line-manager toolkit + 45-min training outline

What to do when someone discloses, what not to say, how to follow up. Plus a 45-minute training outline HR or an employee network can run with managers.

Line manager / HRBP · 8 min read · 3-page printOpen

For the employee + manager

Return-from-leave plan

A two-page conversation framework for returning after menopause-related sick leave: phased hours, adjustments, review points, what to do if it isn't working.

Employee + manager · 6 min read · 2-page printOpen

For the employee

Incident & impact log

If something at work is starting to look like discrimination, write it down with date and quote. A member-owned self-tracking template. Members will find it as the Discrimination evidence log. Hope you never need it. Worth a lot if you do.

Employee · 3 min read · 2-page printOpen

For HR

Benefits & coverage audit

A worksheet for People and benefits leaders: what to ask your provider about MHT drug coverage, how to audit your EAP for menopause support people don't know is there, and how to evaluate a dedicated menopause-care vendor. Portable, with Canada notes.

HR / Benefits lead · 8 min read · 3-page printOpen

For HR

Awareness & comms starter

How to open the conversation across the whole organization without singling anyone out: an all-staff announcement template, a 45-minute awareness-session outline, language do's and don'ts, and a short manager nudge.

HR / Internal comms · 6 min read · 3-page printOpen

For the champion

Menopause champion pack

For the internal volunteer driving the change: a 45-minute lunch-and-learn script, three break-room poster prompts, and the sustaining-it checklist for month 3, 6 and 12. The part most workplace programs skip.

Internal champion / ERG lead · 10 min read · 5-page printOpen

For colleagues

The allyship page

For everyone who isn't going through it. Six things to do this week, what to say when someone tells you, three phrases to retire, and the wider door: surgical menopause, trans and non-binary colleagues, neurodivergence, shift work.

Any colleague / manager · 6 min read · 2-page printOpen

For the facilitator

Run the conversation

For the first-time session leader hosting a room where people talk: ground rules to hand out or read aloud, the opening two minutes near enough word for word, the four moments that go sideways and the move for each, what to refuse to write down, and the follow-up email template.

Facilitator / ERG lead / community host · 7 min read · 2-page printOpen

For operations

Shift & frontline adjustments

The page every other toolkit skips. Break access, washroom access, uniform, cooling, swap rules and rota patterns for wards, floors, routes and classrooms, built on the BC Nurses' Union focus groups.

Ops / scheduling / union rep · 8 min read · 3-page printOpen

For HR

What to measure

Two starter metrics, a baseline worksheet, the four things you should refuse to collect, a four-question pulse survey that doesn't force disclosure, and how to write the number up for a finance audience.

HR / People lead · 7 min read · 2-page printOpen

For HR + employees

Sector by sector

Health care, education, public service, retail, finance, trades and self-employed work each break the standard policy in a different place. Seven sectors with women's share of each workforce, the Canadian numbers, attributed Indigenous voices, and three asks that fit the actual job.

HR / ops / employee · 9 min readOpen

Also in the toolkit

Unbranded PDFs

Print-ready, no Nila logo

The four most-requested templates as clean, unbranded PDFs — so HR and managers can drop them into internal wikis or hand them out without a third-party badge on the page.

For benefits + HR leaders

Want the full thing for your team?

This toolkit is free. If your workplace is ready to fund a real menopause benefit, Hello Nila Premium gives every employee the library, the tools and Nila chat. Seats from CAD $69 per employee per year, invoiced once.

See Nila for teams

Now on the calendar

Events are live.

Live sessions, panels and workshops — ours and other people's, online and in person. Free to browse, and you can add the whole calendar to your own.

See what's on

Sessions we're scoping as courses: Menopause at work, a 60-minute live session, Asking for what you need at work, and For line managers: the 45-minute training. Join the courses waitlist at the foot of the events page and we'll build the ones with real demand.

References & further reading

The frameworks our toolkit draws on

If your HR, DEI or benefits team wants the formal, citeable source documents behind these templates, start here. All free and externally maintained.

Data & context

Workplace Resources & 2025 Benchmark Survey

National Menopause Foundation

Maturity model (Policy / Environment / Benefits / Culture / Measurement) plus the 2025 employer benchmark data.

Visit

Menopause at Work Survey Findings

Korn Ferry × Vira Health

The widely-cited 47% / 13% / 15% figures on symptom disruption, quitting, and attrition risk.

Visit

Women's Healthcare Barriers Extend Into Work and Family Life (2026)

Gallup and Pivotal

Nationally representative U.S. survey on reported care barriers and their effects on work, family life and community participation.

Visit

The Hidden Price Tag of Menopause (2026)

Marie Claire, reporting Gallup and Pivotal data

Income-stratified findings among U.S. women who had experienced menopause. This is the source for the 20% versus 7% comparison above.

Visit

Menopause and the Workplace

Let's Talk Menopause

Advocacy-led hub with employer pledges and a model policy.

Visit
For doctors and specialists

Clinical resources

Written for doctors and specialists, and open to anyone. Handy to bring to an appointment if you'd like to talk it through together.

Your tracking, journals and check-ins are yours. No data sale, no model training on your entries. Employee data is never shared with employers.

Editorial independence · Reviewed, not recycled · Privacy by default