Zora Health / Employer guide / Ireland
Support your experienced employees through menopause, and help them stay at their best.
Poor sleep, fatigue and brain fog can hit your most experienced employees at the height of their careers, yet only a small minority feel able to raise it with their manager. 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 Ireland HR leaders should know
- The average age of menopause in Ireland is 51. Census 2022 counted 652,000 menopausal women, 420,000 of them in paid work.
- Since 1 June 2025, the State pays for HSE-reimbursable hormone therapy for women registered for the Drugs Payment Scheme or with a medical card. GP consultations are not included.
- In a 2024 University of Galway and UCC survey of public-sector staff, only 12% of menopausal employees had talked to their manager, and 65% did not plan to apply for promotion.
- Statutory sick leave is five days a year at 70% of pay, capped at €110 a day; the planned rise to seven days was dropped in 2025.
- The Civil Service has had a menopause in the workplace policy framework since October 2023, covering more than 26,000 women.
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:
- Stalled careers. In a 2024 University of Galway and UCC survey of nearly 1,000 staff in five public-sector organisations, 65% of menopausal respondents did not plan to apply for promotion (University of Galway, October 2024).
- Time off and lost income. In a Unite the Union survey of more than 1,100 women members, 43% had taken time off for menstrual or menopause issues and 28% had lost income (The Irish Times, October 2023).
- Silence with managers. Only 12% of menopausal employees in the Galway and UCC survey had talked to their manager, and 68% said menopause is not discussed at work. In a Department of Health survey, only 23% of women in menopause would be happy to talk to their manager about it (Department of Health, December 2022).
- Unequal access. Hormone therapy is now free for eligible women, but GP consultations are not covered, and a GP visit costs around €50 to €70 in some regions.
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. Census 2022 counted 420,000 menopausal women in paid work in Ireland (Ibec), and the employment rate for women aged 50 to 64 was 68.6% in 2025 (Eurostat). 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
In the Galway and UCC survey, 82% said line managers should be trained in menopause and 75% did not know if their employer had a policy. In the Unite survey, 95% wanted workplace policies. The Civil Service already has a menopause framework, so private employers competing for experienced women are being compared against it.
Make menopause support financially predictable
WTW projects Irish medical trend at 7.3% for 2026 (WTW, February 2026). Much of what helps menopause costs very little: a flexible start time, a desk fan, a manager who knows what to say.
Zora helps employers set an annual allowance or top-up around free HRT and private health insurance, 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 Ireland workforce?
What menopause care costs, and what the state pays
Most menopause care in Ireland starts with the GP. Since June 2025 hormone therapy itself is free for most women, but consultations are not.
| Item | Public support | What the employee still carries |
|---|---|---|
| GP consultation | Free only for GP visit card or medical card holders | Around €50 to €70 a visit in some regions |
| Hormone therapy | Free since 1 June 2025 for HSE-reimbursable products, including the dispensing fee, for women on the Drugs Payment Scheme or with a medical card | Products outside the HSE list are paid for by the employee |
| Time off for appointments | Statutory sick leave of five days a year at 70% of pay, capped at €110 a day, after 13 weeks’ service | No menopause leave; employer sick pay depends on the contract |
Free HRT from the Department of Health; GP fees from Shannonside, February 2024, a regional figure; sick leave from Citizens Information. 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.
Women rarely raise it. Only 12% of menopausal employees in a 2024 public-sector survey had talked to their line manager.
The Government has acted on the health side, with free HRT and a Civil Service policy framework, but there is no menopause leave or specific employment law. 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 Ireland:
- Is menopause support included as standard, or only fertility?
- What access do employees get to menopause specialists and hormone testing, and how quickly?
- How does the programme help us respond to remote and flexible working requests under the Work Life Balance Act and the WRC Code of Practice?
- 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 €400 roughly covers several GP or private consultations not paid by the State. 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: €32,351 to €97,927 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 Ireland. The default salary is close to mean annual earnings in Ireland (€58,127 in 2025); 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 Ireland
Zora’s clinic and doctor directory does not list providers in Ireland 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 Ireland can still use Zora’s education and the Zora app. Ask us how your team in Ireland would use Zora before you launch. See Zora’s employer guides for every country.
Rules and eligibility in Ireland
Employment Equality Acts
The Employment Equality Act 1998 protects nine grounds, including gender, age and disability (Irish Statute Book). Menopause is not named, so base decisions on documented, job-related reasons.
Statutory sick leave
Employees with 13 weeks’ service are entitled to five days of statutory sick leave a year, paid at 70% of gross pay up to €110 a day, with a medical certificate (Citizens Information). The planned increase to seven days was dropped in April 2025 (Department of Enterprise).
Remote and flexible working requests
All employees can request remote work, and carers and parents of young children can request flexible working. The employer must reply within four weeks, extendable by four more, following the WRC Code of Practice (Lewis Silkin). Flexible working requests for health reasons are not a statutory right.
Free hormone therapy
The State pays for HSE-reimbursable HRT products and the dispensing fee for women with a prescription who are registered for the Drugs Payment Scheme or have a medical card (Department of Health).
Civil Service framework
The Menopause in the Workplace Policy Framework covers more than 26,000 women in the Civil Service and includes workplace adjustments and a template for the wider public service (gov.ie). There is no statutory menopause leave.
EU strategy and a new standard
The EU Gender Equality Strategy 2026 to 2030 includes menopause, with a study planned for 2028, and European trade unions launched a campaign for EU menopause-at-work legislation in October 2026 (Euronews). ISO 45010, published in September 2026, gives guidance on menstruation and menopause in the workplace, including risk assessment and individual adjustments (ecnews.it).
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 Irish employers have to give menopause leave?
No. There is no menopause leave. Employees use statutory or contractual sick leave, annual leave or flexible arrangements unless their employer offers more.
Is hormone therapy free in Ireland?
Since 1 June 2025, HSE-reimbursable HRT products and the dispensing fee are free for women registered for the Drugs Payment Scheme or with a medical card. GP and other consultations are not covered.
Can an employee request flexible work because of menopause symptoms?
Any employee can request remote work under the Work Life Balance Act, and employers must respond within the WRC Code of Practice timelines. The statutory right to request flexible working applies to carers and parents of young children.
Is menopause covered by equality law?
Not by name. The Employment Equality Acts protect gender, age and disability, among other grounds, and some menopause-related situations may overlap with these.
Is there a public-sector model to follow?
Yes. The Civil Service Menopause in the Workplace Policy Framework, launched in October 2023, includes workplace adjustments and a template for the wider public service.
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 Ireland 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 Ireland team. No obligation.
Sources
- HSE, Menopause
- Ibec, Menopause and work, May 2024 (citing Census 2022)
- University of Galway and UCC, Menopause in the workplace research, October 2024 (nearly 1,000 public-sector staff)
- Department of Health, Menopause research results, December 2022 (1,290 adults)
- The Irish Times, Unite the Union survey, October 2023 (more than 1,100 women members)
- Eurostat, Employment rates by sex and age (lfsa_ergan), 2025
- CSO, Earnings Analysis 2025
- Department of Health, Free HRT measure
- Department of Health, Minister launches free HRT arrangement
- Shannonside, GP appointment costs, February 2024
- Citizens Information, Sick leave and sick pay
- Department of Enterprise, Statutory sick leave to remain at 5 days, April 2025
- Employment Equality Act 1998, section 6
- Lewis Silkin, Right to request remote and flexible working, March 2024
- gov.ie, Civil Service Menopause in the Workplace Policy Framework, October 2023
- WTW, Europe medical inflation 2026, February 2026
- Euronews, Trade unions call for EU law on menopause at work, 17 October 2026
- ecnews.it, ISO 45010 on menstruation and menopause in the workplace, September 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