Supporting Resources for new ISO Standard on Menstruation and Menopause in the Workplace

ISO45010 Highlights

• ISO 45010:2026 is a voluntary guidance standard applicable to all sectors and sizes, designed to help organizations implement supportive policies and adjustments that support menstruation and menopause at work

• It addresses a major demographic and financial risk, noting that by 2030 over 1.2 billion individuals will be menopausal and 1.8 billion will menstruate monthly, warning that unsupportive environments lead to high attrition where the "cost to re-hire" a single departing worker can range from six months to two years of their salary.

• Organizations are urged to make physical and operational workplace modifications, including localized temperature and ventilation controls, private toilet facilities with internal basins and other initiatives to manage temporary episodic symptoms without taking full sick days.

• The standard prioritises dismantling social taboos and ensuring privacy, recommending anti-stigma manager training, informal peer networks, and trained "menstruation and menopause representatives," while ensuring that personal medical disclosures are entirely voluntary and kept strictly confidential.

• Support must site alongside robust evaluation that tracks the progress and impact of these initiatives using anonymous, demographic-disaggregated people analytics and storytelling.