World Menopause Day - 18th October 2026.
When we think or speak about menopause, it is generally in relation to hot flushes, night sweats, mood swings, anxiety and brain fog. However, there is another debilitating symptom that many women experience, which is frequently either entirely dismissed by healthcare professionals or considered as emotional or psychological. That symptom is chronic pain.
This year, World Menopause Day is tackling this challenge head-on. Established by the International Menopause Society (IMS) in 2009 , the 2026 global campaign is entitled “Chronic Pain at Midlife”. The purpose of the campaign is to challenge gender stereotypes and to raise awareness.
Women in their 40s and 50s may notice symptoms such as joint stiffness, aching muscles, or other new physical discomfort such as frozen shoulders, which may be linked to loss of oestrogen. Modern research shows a direct connection between fluctuating hormones and pain pathways. Oestrogen plays a key role both in protecting joints and naturally suppressing inflammation throughout the body. As oestrogen levels drop during both perimenopause and menopause, this protection reduces. This will continue to impact those who are post-menopausal.
Chronic pain can severely impact both quality of life and the ability to work. (Source IMS).
Menopause affects more than those personally experiencing it and frequently impacts significantly on wider family and friends, as well as work colleagues. Ignoring the physical realities of menopause is no longer a sustainable business strategy.
At work, chronic pain does not only reduce an employee’s quality of life; it may actively compromise performance, trigger absenteeism, reduce productivity and result in presenteeism, where employees are present but functionally impaired by severe physical discomfort. Ultimately women may feel their only option is resignation. All of these outcomes are costly to the business in terms of management time, reallocation of work, potential loss of valued employees through resignation, and recruitment costs.
To ensure employees are supported, businesses should have a structured Menopause Policy and commit to undertaking at least one positive action to support those experiencing menopause.
Examples of support to consider are:
- to offer adjustable sit / stand desks, allowing employees greater flexibility of movement during their working day
- provision of ergonomic chairs where required, to ease symptoms such as back pain
- allocation of dedicated quiet areas
- consider flexibility of working hours and
- allowing more frequent short breaks throughout the day.
Managers should receive suitable training to enable them to recognise the varied symptoms of menopause, to listen and be empathetic in their support.
Prioritising menopause care should not be seen as just another HR policy, or a tick box exercise, but as an investment for the business in retaining their best asset, their employees, and reducing the costs associated with sickness absence.
BLOG BY JOY SHEEN
If you need help with this or any other HR matter, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Jenny, Joy & Lynn
