Protecting workers means recognizing the health and life experiences that can affect their ability to stay safe, focused, and engaged on the job. Menopause is one of those experiences.
Millions of women go through menopause while balancing demanding jobs, often during some of the most skilled and experienced years of their careers. Symptoms can last for years and affect sleep, concentration, stamina, mood, and confidence at work. Yet despite how common menopause is, access to focused care remains limited, and many people still avoid talking about it.
For labor leaders, trustees, and benefit decision-makers, menopause belongs in conversations about retention, safety, healthcare costs, and long-term workforce health.
The impact at work
Menopause is often treated as a personal health issue. In reality, its effects can reach the workplace, benefit plans, and the broader labor force.
The Mayo Clinic estimates that menopause has an annual cost to the U.S. economy of $1.8 billion due to workdays lost as a result of menopause symptoms, and $26.6 billion annually when medical expenses are included. RAND has also estimated that menopause-related productivity losses in the U.S. total $5.4 billion annually, and that approximately 30% of women in the U.S. labor force are in the age range associated with the menopause transition.
The challenge is not only the symptoms themselves. Many workers struggle to find clinicians who are trained and comfortable managing menopause-related care. One study found that only 6.8% of residents in family medicine, internal medicine, and OB-GYN felt adequately prepared to manage menopause care.
For labor organizations focused on keeping skilled workers healthy and engaged, these findings should be part of the benefits conversation.
Why this matters for union members
Union members often work in settings where symptoms can be harder to manage. Long shifts, overnight schedules, physically demanding work, heat exposure, limited break flexibility, uniforms or protective gear, and high-pressure conditions can all make menopause more disruptive.
For a nurse working a 12-hour shift, a transit worker operating overnight, a construction worker exposed to heat, or a public-sector employee in a demanding public-facing role, symptoms like poor sleep, hot flashes, fatigue, brain fog, or joint pain can affect more than comfort. They can affect confidence, attendance, concentration, and safety on the job.
At the same time, stigma often keeps workers from asking questions or seeking help. Many may not know what resources are available, whether their symptoms warrant medical attention, or how to find a provider who understands menopause care. As a result, too many workers continue pushing through symptoms without guidance or treatment that could help them feel and function better.
A more practical approach to benefits
For benefit funds, trustees, and bargaining committees, menopause should be considered part of responsible benefit design.
When members delay care or cycle through disconnected appointments, plans may absorb avoidable costs while workers continue to struggle. Coordinated menopause care can help people get to the right support sooner, while giving benefit leaders another way to strengthen retention and long-term workforce participation.
Comprehensive women’s health benefits can reduce barriers by connecting members to education, clinical guidance, and treatment options instead of leaving them to navigate symptoms on their own. That may include access to menopause-trained providers, hormonal and non-hormonal treatment options, care navigation, and support across related areas such as sleep, nutrition, sexual health, and mental health.
Progyny partners with unions to offer menopause support as part of a broader women’s health solution designed to make care easier to access and navigate. By connecting members to coordinated resources earlier, labor organizations can help reduce the burden of fragmented care and ensure workers have trusted guidance when they need it.
Supporting experienced workers
Menopause support is not a niche benefit. It’s a way to protect experienced workers, improve access to care, and help members remain active in their careers.
For unions, benefit funds, and trustees, bringing menopause into the benefits conversation reflects a core labor principle: workers deserve support through every stage of life and every stage of their careers.
Learn how comprehensive women’s health benefits can help support workers through every stage of life.
Ron Abrahall has been a Union member since 1982 and has held both appointed and elected Union Executive Board positions, as well as the staff positions of Union Labor Representative and Negotiator. Ron also maintains an active Union membership today. He has over 20 years of experience in both public and private sector Union Contract Negotiations. His prior experiences include: Labor Relations Representative for the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), past Union President of USW 9544, past Union President of BMFNHP (AFT, NYSUT), Neuro-Surgical Intensive Care RN, Tele-communications and Law Enforcement (Retired NYPD).
