A growing number of corporations are zeroing in on a new way to boost employee retention and productivity: by providing menopause benefits.
“Women are leaving the workforce because of menopause and symptoms they don’t understand,” said Donna Klassen, cofounder and CEO of Let’s Talk Menopause, an education and advocacy nonprofit. “It’s becoming known that there’s a lot of symptoms and disruptions that can interfere with work. And there’s such a stigma to it that people don’t talk about it and don’t know the reasons the symptoms are happening.
An ‘unsupported and overlooked’ area of care Menopause has a high cost beyond the personal toll it can take: It costs the U.S. economy $1.8 billion in lost work time each year and adds another $26.6 billion a year in medical expenses, a recent study by the Mayo Clinic estimated. From the archives : Why are celebrities talking about menopause? Once taboo, the topic moves into mainstream conversation.
Through Maven, employees get a care advocate who will talk to them about physical or mental-health symptoms they are experiencing and match them with the best provider to help manage or treat them. “Living with the status quo and companies putting a few Band-Aids on it is not where I want us to go as a country. I don’t want companies checking a box and thinking they’re done,” Weiss-Wolf said. “Menopause is not a blip in life. The idea that there are a couple interventions that can be done is a little naive.”