For years, organizations have responded to women’s health at work by creating policies.
Menopause policies. Fertility benefits. Pregnancy accommodations. Menstrual leave. Flexible working arrangements. The list continues to grow…and much of this represents welcome progress.
But there is a question employers should be willing to ask: Are we solving the problem, or are we simply creating another policy to sit alongside the others?
The scale of the issue is difficult to ignore. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, women accounted for 47% of the US labor force in 2024. Women are not a niche part of the workforce whose health can be addressed through a handful of specialist initiatives. They are half of the talent pool.
And yet many workplaces were built around an implicit idea of the ‘ideal’ worker. Someone who is consistently available, able to work fixed hours, rarely interrupted by health or caregiving needs and capable of separating personal circumstances from professional performance.
Real life doesn’t work that neatly.
Pregnancy, menstruation, fertility treatment, menopause, chronic health conditions and caregiving can all intersect with working life. But the answer isn’t necessarily to create a separate policy for every stage or circumstance. Sometimes, the more effective intervention is simply better work.
That might mean giving people greater control over when and where they work. It could mean creating environments where employees can take a break without having to justify it, or ensuring that managers know how to respond appropriately when someone says they are struggling. It might mean reconsidering whether every meeting really needs to happen at the same time, or whether performance should be judged by visibility rather than outcomes.
This matters because policies only go as far as the people implementing them.
A beautifully written women’s health policy is of limited value if an employee’s manager makes them feel uncomfortable asking for flexibility. Likewise, an organization can offer excellent benefits and still have a culture where people feel that using them signals a lack of commitment.
This is where organization’s have an opportunity to move the conversation forward.
Rather than asking, “What policy do we need for this?” we could sometimes ask, “What is it about the way we work that makes this difficult in the first place?”
That shift doesn’t mean abandoning policies or accommodations. In fact, quite the opposite. Clear policies can provide essential consistency, protection and access to support. But they work best when they sit within a broader culture designed around the reality that employees are human beings with changing bodies, responsibilities and circumstances.
The opportunity isn’t to design a workplace specifically for women. It is to design one that works better for people.
When organizations build in flexibility, trust, manager capability and genuine choice, women benefit. So do parents, caregivers, employees managing health conditions and, ultimately, anyone who occasionally needs work to accommodate life rather than the other way around.
Perhaps the future of women’s health at work isn’t about creating more policies. Perhaps it’s about creating workplaces that need fewer special solutions in the first place.
If you would like to discuss how we can help design your workplace so that it has a human approach to flexibility, please get in touch with me at therese@orgshakers.com
