Workplaces have traditionally been designed largely around a male norm, with women’s biological life stages — from fertility to menopause — receiving little attention in HR policy. According to the German trade publication Haufe Arbeitsschutz, this is changing: an increasing number of companies, particularly in Germany and internationally, are systematically incorporating attention to these life stages into their HR policies. Julia Neuen, founder of the company Peaches, describes this trend with the term “Female Lifecycle Management”.
Concrete examples illustrate the development. Tech company Meta and pharmaceutical firm Merck fund egg freezing (social freezing) and other fertility treatments for employees. Insurer AXA has set up internal support networks around menopause, including a Teams channel called “Woman on Fire”. AXA occupational physician Petra Rodenbücher emphasizes above all breaking the taboo surrounding menopause symptoms in the workplace. Practical adjustments are also being made, such as more flexible office temperature control and relaxed dress codes. Sandra Handlbauer-Zrust of Aspirant Health runs workshops linking menopause to questions of leadership culture.
The figures underline the scale of the movement: 75 percent of the companies surveyed want to improve the organization’s women- and family-friendliness. At the same time, the urgency is clearly significant, as a quarter of the women involved are considering early retirement because of menopause symptoms. However, not everyone is unreservedly positive: Anne-Kathrin Gellner of consultancy Mercer warns that such measures can amount to mere window dressing if they are not accompanied by structural changes in culture and policy.
For EHS professionals, this development is relevant because occupational health has traditionally been a core theme of the field, yet attention to sex-based differences in exposure, symptoms and work experience within it has long been underexplored. Fertility support and menopause policy relate directly to topics such as absence prevention, staff retention and designing a work environment that meets the physical needs of all employees — think of climate control and dress codes, which have traditionally fallen under occupational health and safety policy. At the same time, the topic calls for care: measures that exist only on paper, without embedding in a broader culture of equal treatment and psychosocial safety, risk missing their purpose. This presents an opportunity for HSE departments to draw on their expertise in risk assessment and health management to make a substantive contribution to shaping this policy, rather than leaving it to HR departments alone.
Source: Frauengesundheit, 7 September 2026, https://www.haufe.de/arbeitsschutz/gesundheit-umwelt/frauengesundheit_94_697270.html
