A menopause policy on its own did very little. Here is what we changed in year two

UK public body, around 4,300 staff, 62% women and a median age of 47, so this is not a niche issue for us. We published a menopause policy in 2023 with the usual content: guidance for managers, reasonable adjustments, a statement of support.

A year on, eleven people had asked for an adjustment under it. Our own survey suggested about 900 were experiencing symptoms that affected their work.

In year two we stopped treating it as a policy and treated it as a benefit. We funded a specialist clinical consultation for anyone who wanted one, changed the absence system so related absence is recorded separately and does not count towards trigger points, and made uniform and desk-fan requests a no-approval purchase. I am interested in how others have approached it.