ISO 45010: HR Guide to New Menopause Workplace Standards
Menopause is entering the domain of formal occupational health governance. ISO 45010 is the first international standard designed to provide structured guidance on menopause and menstrual health in the workplace. Currently in development and moving toward publication, this standard represents a critical preparation window for US HR leaders, one that is shorter than many realize. This article provides the essential roadmap: what the standard is, its development status, and the specific requirements organizations must prepare for.
What Is ISO 45010?
ISO 45010 is an occupational health and safety (OHS) management standard being developed by the International Organization for Standardization. Its full title is: Occupational health and safety management: Menstruation, menstrual health and menopause in the workplace.
Its official full title is: Occupational health and safety management – Menstruation, menstrual health and menopause in the workplace – Guidance
It is designed to integrate into existing safety and risk management systems, particularly ISO 45001, which governs occupational health and safety management systems more broadly.
One framing distinction worth noting: ISO 45010 explicitly classifies menstruation and menopause not as medical conditions but as life course experiences. That distinction shapes how the standard expects organizations to respond. It moves the issue out of the medical accommodation framework and into the operational and governance framework.
For HR, this means menopause will increasingly be treated as:
- A workforce health and safety consideration
- A systems-level organizational responsibility
- A documented management topic subject to governance oversight
- A risk management issue with measurable workforce implications
This shifts menopause from informal manager discretion into formal organizational design. That is a meaningful change in how organizations are expected to respond.
Where Did It Come From?
ISO 45010 builds directly on BS 30416, a UK guideline on menopause in the workplace published by the British Standards Institution. BS 30416 provided voluntary employer guidance on workplace adjustments, manager training, environmental considerations, and policy alignment.
The move from a national UK guideline to an international ISO standard is significant. It signals that menopause at work is no longer viewed as a regional or cultural issue specific to certain markets. It is being formalized at the global governance level.
For context, ISO standards often follow this path: a leading national standards body develops guidance, organizations begin adopting it voluntarily, and the international standards community formalizes it into a global framework. That is exactly what is happening here.
Where Is ISO 45010 Right Now?
ISO standards move through a structured development process:
- Proposal and new work item
- Working draft
- Committee draft
- Draft International Standard (DIS)
- Final Draft International Standard (FDIS)
- Publication
ISO 45010 is currently at the Draft International Standard stage. The DIS ballot was initiated in August 2025. Full publication is anticipated around Q1 2026. That is a short runway for organizations that have not yet begun internal assessment.
Multinational organizations typically begin aligning internal policies during the DIS stage rather than waiting for final publication. Early alignment means designing proactively rather than retrofitting existing practices under external pressure.
Will ISO 45010 Be Legally Binding in the US?
Not automatically. ISO standards are voluntary international guidelines, not US federal regulations. ISO 45010 will not create new legal mandates in the United States upon publication. However, voluntary does not mean without consequence.
ISO standards carry significant operational weight across several areas that directly affect US employers:
ESG reporting. Human capital management disclosure expectations are expanding. Institutional investors, proxy advisors, and ESG rating agencies increasingly reference ISO alignment when evaluating whether organizations are managing workforce risk adequately.
Board governance. Boards with human capital committee responsibilities are asking more specific questions about talent retention frameworks and occupational health governance. ISO 45010 will become a reference point in those conversations.
Global operations. For organizations operating in markets where menopause workplace standards are gaining regulatory traction, such as the UK and parts of the EU, ISO 45010 alignment supports consistency across global HR policy.
Legal positioning. Organizations that document proactive occupational health governance typically carry lower legal exposure when accommodation or discrimination claims arise. ISO alignment strengthens that documented posture.
What Will ISO 45010 Likely Address?
Based on the predecessor standard BS 30416 and the current DIS draft discussions, ISO 45010 is expected to provide guidance across several areas:
Workplace environment. Adjustments to temperature control, ventilation, access to rest facilities, and uniform or dress code flexibility are included in predecessor guidance and expected to carry into the ISO standard.
Manager awareness and training. Structured education for managers on menopause and perimenopause experiences, with emphasis on recognizing performance-adjacent impacts without requiring employee disclosure.
Policy alignment. Integration of menopause considerations into existing occupational health, safety, and wellbeing policy frameworks rather than treating it as a standalone issue.
Risk assessment. Including menopause as a factor in occupational health risk assessments, particularly for roles with sustained cognitive or physical demands.
Disclosure and privacy. Guidance on how organizations handle disclosure, including protections against inadvertent disclosure and clarity on what employees are and are not required to share to access support.
Intersectional and inclusive approaches. Recognition that menopause experiences vary significantly across racial, ethnic, and individual lines. The DIS draft explicitly calls for an intersectional lens, including earlier onset patterns experienced by Black women and women of color.
What ISO 45010 Will Not Do
It is worth being clear about scope.
ISO 45010 will not:
- Create automatic legal obligations in the US upon publication
- Replace or clarify existing ADA accommodation frameworks
- Prescribe a single policy template that works across all organizations and industries
- Address every disclosure barrier that exists in workplace culture
- Eliminate the need for organizational judgment in implementation
The standard provides a governance framework and guidance principles. Implementation will require organizations to assess their own context, workforce demographics, and existing policy infrastructure.
What HR Leaders Can Do Before Publication
The DIS stage is the right time to begin internal assessment. Preparation does not require public announcements or new policy rollouts yet. It requires internal clarity on current gaps.
Review your existing occupational health governance. Does it currently include any reference to menopause or perimenopause? Most US organizations will find the answer is no. That is useful information for scoping what will need to be built.
Assess manager training. Do managers have any structured framework for recognizing performance-adjacent impacts on employees in health transitions? Do they have a referral pathway that does not require the employee to disclose a specific health status?
Evaluate your accommodation documentation practices. How menopause-related support is currently documented matters both for legal positioning and for ISO alignment. If support requires formal medical documentation to trigger, that is a gap worth examining now.
Examine your benefits and support infrastructure. What does your organization currently offer employees navigating health transitions that affect work performance? Identifying gaps now allows for intentional design rather than reactive patchwork.
Get ahead of the ESG conversation. If your organization reports on human capital management, begin assessing how menopause governance will be documented and disclosed. ISO 45010 will become a reference point for institutional investors asking about occupational health frameworks.
Why the Timeline Matters
Publication around Q1 2026 means organizations have months, not years, to complete internal assessment before the standard becomes a reference point in governance conversations.
The organizations that will be best positioned are those that treat the DIS stage as a signal to act, not a reason to wait. Early attention allows for intentional policy design. It allows HR to lead the internal conversation with boards, legal, and compliance rather than respond to their questions.
The broader signal ISO 45010 sends is clear: menopause is not a private matter that organizations can reasonably remain unstructured about. It has workforce, governance, and risk management implications that belong inside formal organizational systems.
Understanding what the standard is and where it is headed is the starting point.
