ISO 45010 is the first international standard on supporting employees through menstruation and menopause at work. Published by the International Organization for Standardization on 7 September 2026, it gives employers of any size or sector practical, globally agreed guidance on policy, workplace adjustments, manager capability, and culture. It is guidance rather than a certifiable rule, and ISO has made it available at no cost to encourage wide adoption.

For senior leaders and for HR, benefits, and wellbeing teams, the standard arrives with immediate credibility, because it sits within the same occupational health and safety family as ISO 45001. This guide explains what it asks of you, how it lands differently in the UK and the US, and the one gap most organisations will still need to close. If you would rather start with a quick self-assessment, our ISO 45010 readiness check takes about ninety seconds.

‍Key points

• ISO 45010, published 7 September 2026, is the first international standard on menstruation and menopause at work.
• It is free guidance, not a certification, and can be adapted by organisations of any size or sector.
• UK employers with 250 or more staff will need to publish a menopause action plan, expected to be mandatory from spring 2027.
• In the US there is no mandate, though federal guidance and professional standards already point employers the same way.
• The standard does not cover clinical support, which is the gap most workplace programmes still need to close.

What does ISO 45010 actually ask of employers?

Because the standard is guidance, it points organisations toward good practice rather than setting pass or fail requirements. In practice it covers a familiar set of areas.

• Policy. A clear workplace menopause policy that names menopause and menstruation as ordinary workplace matters and sets out how the organisation responds.
• ‍Practical adjustments. These may include flexibility in hours or location, attention to temperature and ventilation, rest facilities, and access to water and suitable washrooms.
• ‍Manager capability. The people closest to each team understand what colleagues may be experiencing and can respond with confidence and discretion.
• ‍Inclusive culture. An environment that reduces stigma and makes it safe to raise symptoms without fear for one's standing or progression.
• ‍Work design and recruitment. Attention to how roles are shaped and filled, so that avoidable barriers do not quietly push experienced people out.‍
• Review. A way to check whether the support is working and to improve it over time.

ISO 45010 is explicit that these steps can be scaled to an organisation's size and resources, and that even modest, affordable actions can make a real difference. One point is worth settling from the outset. This is guidance, so there is no certificate to earn and no audit to pass.

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Why did ISO publish a menopause and menstruation standard now?

Menopause tends to arrive at the peak of a woman's career, in the years when many are moving into senior and leadership roles. When symptoms go unsupported, organisations quietly lose experienced people at the moment their expertise is most valuable.

The scale is significant. Research by the British Standards Institution, which led the international working group, found that 57 percent of UK women had never heard their employer talk about the issue. Separate analysis by the Centre for Economics and Business Research for BSI estimated that when employees feel confident raising menstrual and menopausal health at work, the potential productivity premium is worth almost 300 million pounds a year.

ISO also removed the usual barrier to adoption. Recognising that these life stages affect millions of workers, it made the standard available at no cost in a view-only digital format, so organisations of any size or location can read and apply it. Printed and downloadable editions remain available to purchase.

What does ISO 45010 mean for UK employers?

In short: the UK now expects large employers to publish a menopause action plan, and ISO 45010 gives you a ready made framework for what to put in it.

The standard lands alongside a legal shift. The Employment Rights Act 2025, which became law in December 2025, introduces a duty for employers with 250 or more employees to publish equality action plans covering both the gender pay gap and support for employees experiencing menopause.

Publication is voluntary from April 2026 and is expected to become mandatory from spring 2027, subject to secondary legislation. The government published guidance in March 2026 setting out recommended, evidence based actions employers can include. In practice this moves menopause support from informal good practice toward something a large employer has to evidence and publish.

There is a clear business case behind the policy. The CEBR analysis for BSI, noted above, puts the potential productivity premium at almost 300 million pounds a year. ISO 45010 gives UK employers the substance of a menopause action plan, while the Act sets the deadline for putting one in public view.

A note on accuracy: employment law detail can change between now and the deadline. The position described here is accurate as of September 2026, and any organisation acting on it should confirm the current requirements and dates through official UK government guidance.

What does ISO 45010 mean for US employers?

In short: there is no US mandate yet, but federal guidance and professional standards already point employers in the same direction, and ISO 45010 can be adopted voluntarily now.

In the US there is no single federal deadline forcing the issue, so the standard lands as voluntary guidance rather than compliance. The direction of travel is the same.

The US Department of Labor's Women's Bureau has already published a briefing, Let's Talk About It: Menstruation and Menopause at Work, which sets out common symptoms, low cost accommodations, and the legal protections that may apply. It notes that federal law does not explicitly protect employees from discrimination related to menstruation or menopause, though the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act can apply where symptoms reach a qualifying threshold. A small number of states have begun to legislate accommodations directly.

Employers who want practical, clinically grounded guidance also have The Menopause Society's Making Menopause Work initiative, which offers free employer resources built on a scientific consensus report, together with an employer designation for organisations that meet its standards. For a US employer, ISO 45010 sits comfortably alongside these resources as an internationally agreed framework.

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Where do most organisations fall short?

There is one line in the standard that deserves particular attention, because it defines where an internal policy reaches its limit.

ISO 45010 is explicit that it does not provide medical guidance and does not cover clinical options outside the workplace. It refers readers to qualified sources for that support instead.

This matters because a policy, a set of adjustments, and a trained manager are all valuable, and none of them addresses the symptom itself. When a woman is awake at three in the morning, or managing anxiety and hot flashes through an important meeting, what helps in that moment is qualified, evidence informed support she can actually reach. The standard rightly leaves clinical support to specialists, which means the organisations that act well will be the ones that give their people a genuine route to it.

In my experience this is the piece most workplace programmes have not yet built. A policy is visible and relatively quick to put in place. A real support pathway takes more thought, and it is what turns a statement of intent into help people can feel.

How can you check where your organisation stands?

The quickest way to see where you stand is to work through the six areas above honestly and mark each one as in place, partly in place, or not yet started. Our ISO 45010 readiness check does exactly this in about ninety seconds, and gives you tailored feedback on each area along with a sense of where the common gaps sit.

If you would like to go further, our corporate solutions page sets out how EverCalm supports organisations building a menopause programme that aligns with the standard, and you are welcome to contact us to talk it through.