Zora Health / Employer guide / Colombia
Support your experienced employees through menopause, and help them stay at their best.
A bill before Colombia’s Congress would let workers with moderate or severe menopause symptoms ask for flexible hours, home working and special leave. Zora Health helps you build practical menopause support, from workplace policies and manager training to confidential care navigation and access to 128+ partner clinics in 16 countries, around your workforce and budget. Companies including Hilton, LinkedIn, Sanofi, HSBC, Mastercard, Carousell and Singapore Management University work with us.
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Five things Colombia HR leaders should know
- In a study of 2,167 women in Colombia’s Caribbean and Pacific regions, the average age at menopause was 47.4.
- Muscle and joint pain and hot flushes were the most common symptoms.
- Women’s labour force participation was 53.2% in mid-2026, against 76.2% for men.
- The maximum working week fell to 42 hours from 15 July 2026.
- Bill PL 377 of 2025 would give workers with moderate or severe symptoms the right to request flexible hours, home working and special leave. It is not law.
Why menopause is a business problem for employers
Menopause rarely announces itself at work. It looks like a senior manager who slept four hours, a wave of heat in the middle of a client meeting, a word that will not come in front of the board. Symptoms come and go for years. Many women do not link them to menopause, and fewer tell their manager.
So the cost stays out of your reports. It shows up instead as:
- Earlier menopause. In a study of 2,167 women in Cartagena, Barranquilla, Cali and rural areas, the average age at menopause was 47.4 (Salud Uninorte, 2014).
- Pain and flushes. Muscle and joint discomfort and hot flushes were the most frequent symptoms in the same study.
- Symptoms before menopause. Across Latin America, 77% of women aged 40 to 44 already had symptoms, and 90.9% of women aged 40 to 59 had at least one (REDLINC, Climacteric, 2012).
- Little local workplace data. We found no Colombian study on menopause and work. A confidential survey of your own employees is the quickest way to see the picture in your company.
What employers gain
Keep the people who know how your business runs
Replacing an employee costs one-half to two times their annual salary, according to Gallup. Women’s labour force participation was 53.2% in mid-2026 (DANE), so many of your experienced employees will go through menopause at work. A written policy, trained managers and quick access to the right doctor can help address barriers that contribute to employee attrition.
Stand out to experienced women
If the menopause bill passes, employers will need processes for flexible work requests. Acting early, with a clear offer in your benefits pack, helps you stand out to senior women.
Make menopause support financially predictable
Aon projects Colombia’s medical trend at 9.4% for 2026, or 6.3% after inflation (Aon, 2026 report). Much of what helps menopause costs very little: a flexible start time, a fan, a manager who knows what to say.
Zora helps employers set an annual allowance or top-up around EPS cover and your prepaid medicine plan, so HR can run the programme within an agreed budget. The benefit works alongside your existing insurance.
Want to see what this would look like for your Colombia workforce?
What menopause care costs, and what the state pays
Employees are covered by an EPS in the contributory scheme and pay a fixed charge per visit and a share of other costs, depending on income. Many employers add prepaid medicine plans.
| Item | Public support | What the employee still carries |
|---|---|---|
| EPS visits (cuota moderadora), 2026 | Covered by the EPS | COP 5,000 under 2 minimum wages; COP 20,100 for 2 to 5; COP 52,800 above 5 |
| Other services (copago), 2026 | Covered by the EPS | 11.5%, 17.3% or 23.0% depending on income, with annual caps from COP 748,882 to COP 5,990,696 |
| Time off for appointments | Employer pays days 1 and 2; the EPS pays from day 3 at two thirds of salary for the first 90 days | No menopause leave |
From MinSalud Circular 048 of 2025 and MinSalud via Supersalud. We could not confirm whether HRT is in the benefits plan, or private consultation fees. These are published examples, not guaranteed current prices: actual costs depend on cover, clinic, doctor and treatment, so confirm fees with the provider before budgeting.
A bill before Colombia’s Congress would let workers with menopause symptoms ask for flexible hours and home working.
Colombia has no menopause workplace law yet, but two bills are before Congress. For employers, the practical opportunity is to help employees recognise their symptoms, understand their options and reach appropriate clinical advice sooner.
Menopause support that fits your workforce and budget
You do not need to overhaul your existing health insurance to support employees through menopause. Start with awareness and manager education, add confidential one-to-one support, or introduce a fuller programme across your offices. There is no minimum company size.
Where included in the employer programme, eligible employees can use talks and care navigation without paying Zora a separate fee. Care navigation allowances are set in each proposal. Treatment and other third-party costs are paid separately, either by employees or through the allowance their employer provides.
Companies starting the conversation
Essentials
Expert-led talks for employees and managers, menopause policy templates, manager guides and full access to the Zora app. Up to 2 talks a year.
Employees supported one to one
Navigation
Everything in Essentials, plus confidential one-to-one care navigation and access to our partner clinic network.
Large teams across countries
Complete
Everything in Navigation, plus quarterly anonymised reporting, a dedicated account manager and scheduled review meetings with HR.
Optional add-ons can be added to any programme, subject to availability: hormone diagnostics and telehealth with specialists. Pricing is tailored to your headcount, your countries and the services you choose. Most companies start with a single talk.
Request a proposal See how Zora works for employers
Comparing menopause benefit providers? Use our RFP question bank
Our question bank has 40 questions for multi-country benefits teams, with why each one matters, what a good answer looks like and a scoring sheet for three providers. Six of the questions for menopause support in Colombia:
- Is menopause support included as standard, or only fertility?
- What access do employees get to menopause specialists and hormone testing, and how quickly?
- How would the programme help us respond to flexible work and leave requests if the menopause bill becomes law?
- Do you provide fertility and menopause policy templates for our markets?
- How can an employee get help confidentially without telling their manager?
- What individual-level data does HR see?
Your download link appears as soon as you submit. Zora Health may contact you about employee benefits; see our privacy policy.
Plan your menopause benefit budget
Menopause care allowance planner
Model the annual claims budget for a menopause care allowance. Change any number.
This is a claims budget, not a Zora quotation. Zora’s programme fees, implementation and optional services are separate.
It estimates the annual budget for a menopause care allowance from your eligible workforce, expected utilisation and allowance per employee, and assumes each user claims the full allowance. Eligible employees defaults to 15% as a stand-in for women aged 45 and over; use your own headcount data. The default allowance of COP 1,500,000 is an illustrative figure for private consultations, tests and treatment. Utilisation is an editable assumption, not observed Zora data. For a proposal covering both programme costs and employee benefits, request an employer proposal.
Estimate the potential workforce impact of menopause symptoms
A rough planning scenario. It applies a published estimate to your headcount, so it is not a prediction for your workforce, a measured loss or a forecast of savings from any programme.
Range: COP 33,466,500 to COP 101,304,000 a year, depending on replacement cost.
Assumptions: 13.4% of working women aged 45 to 60 reported at least one adverse work outcome due to menopause symptoms, and those who missed work lost a median of 3 days a year (Faubion et al., Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 2023). This was a US clinic sample, so treat it as a rough benchmark for Colombia. The default salary is illustrative. We could not confirm a current official average salary, so use your own. Replacing an employee costs one-half to two times their annual salary (Gallup, 2019); the headline uses the low end. Absence is valued at salary divided by 250 working days. Exit rate is your own assumption.
Already have corporate health insurance? Here is where Zora fits
Your medical plan may cover some consultations and treatment. Employees still need to recognise their symptoms, understand their options and find a doctor who knows menopause care, and many never get that far.
Zora works alongside your existing insurance and benefits. We help employees get reliable information, navigate their care options and reach suitable specialists, and we give HR manager training, policy templates and, on the Complete programme, anonymised reporting. You strengthen menopause support without replacing your medical plan.
How Zora works
For your employees
Employees join the Zora app with a company code, or single sign-on for larger teams. They can learn about perimenopause and menopause, understand what your benefit covers, book a confidential care navigation call and find partner doctors and specialists.
For HR
- Kick-off, week 1. Agree goals, countries and which employees are eligible.
- Policy and benefit design, weeks 2 to 4. Draft or update your menopause policy and flexible work guidance using our templates.
- Launch, typically weeks 4 to 6. A launch talk for employees and managers, plus a communications pack for HR to send.
- Live support. Employees book care navigation calls and use the Zora app.
- Reporting, every 3 months, on the Complete programme. Anonymised usage, common themes and our recommendations, reviewed with your account manager.
Privacy
On the Complete programme, HR receives anonymised, aggregated reports only: how many employees used the programme, which services they used and the common themes. On every programme, HR never sees an individual employee’s health information, bookings or test results, and employees can get help without telling their manager. Employee data is stored on Amazon Web Services in Singapore and handled in line with Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Act.
Clinics and doctors in Colombia
Zora’s clinic and doctor directory does not list providers in Colombia yet. It lists 421 clinics and 1,185 doctors across 25 countries, mostly in Asia Pacific and the Middle East (browse clinics or browse doctors). Employees in Colombia can still use Zora’s education and the Zora app. Ask us how your team in Colombia would use Zora before you launch. See Zora’s employer guides for every country.
Rules and eligibility in Colombia
Sick pay
The employer pays days 1 and 2 of incapacity, the EPS pays days 3 to 180, the pension fund days 181 to 540, and the EPS again after that. Pay is two thirds of salary for the first 90 days, then 50%, never below the minimum wage (MinSalud).
42-hour working week
Ley 2101 of 2021 cut the maximum working week to 42 hours from 15 July 2026 (Bloomberg Línea).
Menopause bill (PL 377 of 2025)
The bill, with a favourable first-debate report in November 2025, would let workers with moderate or severe symptoms request flexible hours, home working or study, special leave and reasonable adjustments, and provide care through the benefits plan without extra cost (Congreso Visible). A similar bill, PL 251 of 2026, was filed in 2026 (Chamber of Representatives).
Why employers choose Zora
Companies including Hilton, LinkedIn, Sanofi, HSBC, Mastercard, Carousell and Singapore Management University work with Zora Health. We work alongside your existing insurance, helping employees use the cover they already have and find suitable doctors and specialists based on their needs.
Zora Health helped me to reclaim my confidence to thrive at work!
Questions HR teams ask us
Do employers in Colombia have to give menopause leave?
Not yet. Bill PL 377 of 2025 would let workers with moderate or severe symptoms request special leave and flexible work, but it is not law.
What do employees pay for EPS care?
In 2026, a visit charge of COP 5,000 to COP 52,800 and a share of 11.5% to 23.0% for other services, depending on income.
Who pays sick pay in Colombia?
The employer pays days 1 and 2. The EPS pays from day 3, at two thirds of salary for the first 90 days.
How common are menopause symptoms in Colombia?
Muscle and joint pain and hot flushes were the most common symptoms in a study of 2,167 women.
At what age do Colombian women reach menopause?
In a study of 2,167 women in the Caribbean and Pacific regions, the average was 47.4.
Does Zora replace our health insurance?
No. Zora works alongside your insurance. We help employees understand their options, find suitable specialists and use the cover they already have.
How much does menopause support cost an employer?
It depends on the programme, any allowance and expected uptake. Use the budget planner on this page for a first estimate, then ask us for a tailored proposal based on your headcount and countries.
How quickly can we launch?
Typically 4 to 6 weeks from contract to launch, depending on scope and countries. Most companies start with a single talk.
Related guides for Colombia employers
Build a menopause support programme for your team
Whether you are introducing menopause benefits for the first time or improving an existing programme, tell us your headcount, countries and priorities. We will come back within two working days with suitable services, an indicative budget and a practical rollout plan for your Colombia team. No obligation.
Sources
- Romero-Pérez, Monterrosa-Castro and Paternina-Caicedo, Salud Uninorte, 2014 (2,167 women)
- Blümel, Chedraui et al., Age at menopause in Latin America, Menopause, 2006
- REDLINC, Menopausal symptoms in Latin America, Climacteric, 2012 (8,373 women)
- DANE, Labour market by sex, June to August 2026
- MinSalud, Circular Externa 048 of 2025
- MinSalud legal concept on incapacity payments, 2024
- Bloomberg Línea, 42-hour week from 15 July 2026
- Congress, PL 377 of 2025 Cámara, first-debate report
- Chamber of Representatives, PL 251 of 2026
- Aon, Global Medical Trend Rates Report 2026
- Gallup, This fixable problem costs US businesses $1 trillion, 2019
- Mayo Clinic News Network, Faubion et al., Impact of menopause symptoms on women in the workplace, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, April 2023