Workplace policy on menstruation and menopause has run on a patchwork of internal guidelines and one national British standard for three years. As of this week, it has an international one, and it is free.
The International Organization for Standardization launched ISO 45010, “Occupational health and safety management, menstruation and menopause in the workplace, guidance,” the first International Standard of its kind. It gives employers, HR professionals and occupational health practitioners a common framework for identifying and addressing workplace factors that affect employees experiencing these health transitions, covering everything from manager training to physical workplace design. ISO said the standard will be available at no cost specifically to remove financial barriers for smaller organizations.
The standard builds on research the British Standards Institution conducted across seven countries, surveying 6,494 women. It found 68% believe employers have a role in supporting menopause and menstruation-related health issues, and seven in ten want a clear employer process. But six in ten respondents said they have never heard their employer proactively raise the topic, a gap BSI’s Anne Hayes, Director of Sectors, described directly: “despite three years of progress after the foundational British standard on menopause and menstruation was published in 2023 there is still a significant gap between awareness and action.”
The original insight here is what “free” signals about ISO’s intent. Standards bodies typically charge for access, and a no-cost international release is a deliberate push for fast, broad adoption rather than slow, premium rollout. For HR platforms building wellbeing or accommodation-tracking features, that lowers the bar for mid-market and small employers to formally adopt a standard, which means the market for compliance-adjacent tooling in this space is about to widen well beyond the large enterprises that led on disability and accommodation training so far, a category where broader DEI investment has been under pressure even as demand for practical, low-cost frameworks like this one keeps growing.
Source: ISO via PR Newswire
