Menopause, the Municipal Ordinance

Menopause, along with its younger sibling perimenopause, has been having a moment — for a few years now. Recently, the City of Philadelphia hopped aboard, and not just because our leader is a 50-something woman who unabashedly appears in public toting a handheld fan. On January 1, 2027, a new provision in the City’s Fair Practice Ordinance will require employers to provide reasonable workplace accommodations for symptoms relating to menopause, perimenopause and their symptom-filled precursor, menstruation. To suffering workers — and workplaces themselves — this is a big deal. While The Philadelphia Citizen cannot take credit for this legislation, we can say: We told you to. Three years ago, our very own Roxanne Patel Shepelavy wrote about how menopausal symptoms can interfere with work — and how some places were taking steps to ameliorate workplace conditions for women of many ages. Here, a review of why we need these laws, and what should happen once they go into effect. Philly’s new rules Federal workplace regulations already protect people with disabilities — which menopause et al are not — along with conditions and symptoms related to pregnancy, childbirth and menstruation. For years, Philadelphia has also had above-and-beyond protections when it comes to breastfeeding. Philly’s add-on municipal protections are legal, because, although the municipalities can neither supersede nor contradict state law — pertaining to gun control, for example — or federal law — such as defying the Constitution — we can set higher standards for workplace regulations. This is what City Councilmember-at-Large Nina Ahmad did when she proposed Resolution 251004 in November 2025. Soon thereafter Mayor Parker signed the provision. In late October of this year, the bill returned to the desks of City Council, where it passed. The result: As of New Year’s Day 2027, if hot flashes, cramps, menstrual headaches, etc. are making work difficult to impossible, your boss will need to accommodate you. If they deny your requests for help, they’ll be breaking the law. How this will help But how do menopausal and perimenopausal symptoms screw with a person’s productivity — at a rate of 1 million new Americans annually? In addition to those notoriously derailing hot flashes, perimenopausal and menopausal women often experience a lack of focus, trouble staying organized, and according to Sheila Shanmugan, a reproductive psychiatrist at the Penn Center for Women’s Behavioral Wellness, make “silly mistakes.” These symptoms (not to mention the absolute potential mental and physical hellscape that often accompanies PMS and menstruation), Shepelavy writes, “put women at an economic disadvantage — but also affect the bottom line for businesses. A 2023 Mayo Clinic study found lost time due to menopause [alone] cost $1.8 billion a year and $26.6 billion in medical expenses.” To get more specific, menopausal symptoms cause 11 percent of symptomatic women ages 45 to 60 to miss some work — and, according to the women’s healthcare platform Maven, cause 17 percent of women to consider quitting their jobs entirely. Such circumstances are not exactly a boon to efforts to increase the minuscule numbers of women who lead large companies or sit on corporate boards. (To wit: Fortune recently celebrated that women run a whopping 11 percent of the top 500 highest-grossing companies.) Suffering without accommodations could also mean fewer high-level women to mentor younger women in the workplace. What, on the other hand, could be the possible impact of this legislation that helps many ages of women thrive at work while enduring any of the above symptoms? Well, it would start with women becoming more likely to speak up at work about what they’re dealing with — if not to a manager, then to HR, a field made up of 70 to 75 percent women. And, if not to HR, then hopefully to a local healthcare provider, who (also) hopefully has been apprised of the municipal legislation, in addition to other medical solutions coming into the fore. This last option, of course, requires sufferers to at the very least speak to their doctors. A 2025 Mayo Clinic study that found 80 percent of women with moderate to severe symptoms didn’t seek medical care for them. Surely, the increased cultural awareness around the subject, not to mention this year’s national shortage of hormone replacement therapy patches, show this percentage ought to be rising, even if not every plan to help working women has … worked. Philadelphia picks up where Washington, D.C. left off Just about exactly three years ago, the Biden Administration announced the country’s first-ever White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research, led by First Lady Jill Biden, to close the research gap in women’s health. (The initiative pointed to another problem, that under 11 percent of NIH research funding had gone toward women’s health.) The project planned to target reproductive health, including the under-researched areas of menopause and perimenopause. Although a click on the Bidens-led initiative’s webpage currently results in a 404 error, in October, President Trump signed an executive order to establish a similarly-focused Women’s Health Division within the National Institutes of Health, including menopause, and including an order to get the whole thing rolling within 90 days. New York has also taken a crack at the issue. In 2023, then-Mayor Eric Adams announced the launch of New York City’s Department of Women’s Health, tasked with creating better access to menopause treatments, and more menopause-friendly workplaces. So far, Mayor Zohran Mamdani hasn’t moved much on the issue, which may be because menopause in the workplace has landed on the desks of legislators in Albany, who are considering a few menopause-in-the-workplace related bills, including NY Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal’s “Menopausal Bill of Rights.” So, Philly is following the example of New York City, but New York state came after Rhode Island, Illinois and Connecticut, who have all instituted protections for women who are working while menopausing. And although the United Kingdom, where Parliament held two years of hearings about menopause at work, once had somewhat of a global lead in this type of legislation, they’re still in the voluntary phase, waiting for U.K.-based companies that employ 250 or more people to establish “mandatory action plans” to protect and accommodate workers with menopausal symptoms. The Brits’ menopause workplace mandate officially begins in spring of 2027, at which time the EU expects to hear a rousing “hip-hip” from Olivia Coleman and Sharon Horgan fans. Meanwhile, back in Philly We can proudly say we’re the first U.S. city to pass such legislation, and, although your Philadelphia Citizen is not looking for any outright credit, you might want to sign up for our free newsletters, just to keep track of what City Hall will probably do next. MORE ON WOMEN IN PHILLY Related from The Citizen Big Rube’s Philly: Jakai Bishop, a Philadelphia Inspiration By Reuben Harley Related from The Citizen Ideas We Should Steal: Universal Postpartum Services By Courtney DuChene Related from The Citizen Guest Commentary: Philadelphia Women, Still Underpaid By Meghan Pierce Related from The Citizen Business for Good: New Mom School By Laura Brzyski Mayor Parker, holding a personal fan to keep cool, meets constituents on a community walk in the 2nd District, August 8 2026. Copyright City of Philadelphia. Photograph by Dominique Johnson Like what you're reading? Stay updated on all our coverage. Here's how: