Zora Health / Employer guide / Panama
Support your experienced employees through menopause, and help them stay at their best.
Nine in ten Latin American women in midlife report menopause symptoms, and in Panama more than half of women are in the labour force. 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 Panama HR leaders should know
- The median age at menopause across Latin America is 48.6, based on 17,150 women in 15 countries.
- In a study of 8,373 Latin American women aged 40 to 59, 90.9% reported at least one menopause symptom.
- Women’s labour force participation in Panama was 53.8% in September 2025, up 1.0 point on 2024.
- CSS covers medical care; employers pay 8% of payroll for medical benefits.
- CSS sickness benefit pays 70% of average daily earnings from day 4, for up to 26 weeks. There is no menopause leave.
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:
- Symptoms start early. In a REDLINC study of 8,373 women aged 40 to 59 in 12 Latin American countries, 90.9% reported at least one symptom, and 77% of premenopausal women aged 40 to 44 already had symptoms (Climacteric, 2012).
- Severe for many. Around 3 in 10 early postmenopausal women had a severe total symptom score.
- Quality of life. Hot flushes raised the odds of impaired quality of life more than ninefold among peri- and postmenopausal women.
- Little local workplace data. We found no Panamanian 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 53.8% in September 2025 (INEC Panamá), 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
Panama is a regional headquarters hub, and few employers offer structured menopause support. A clear offer, explained in your benefits pack, stands out to senior women weighing their next move.
Make menopause support financially predictable
Aon projects Panama’s medical trend at 10.0% for 2026, or 8.0% 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 CSS care and your private medical 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 Panama workforce?
What menopause care costs, and what the state pays
Employees are covered by the Social Security Fund (CSS). Many employers add private health insurance for faster specialist access.
| Item | Public support | What the employee still carries |
|---|---|---|
| CSS medical care | Employer pays 8% of payroll for medical benefits; dependants get the same cover | Employee pays 0.5% of earnings for cash sickness benefits (2019 rates) |
| Private specialist care | Through employer health insurance, where offered | Fees not covered by the plan |
| Time off for appointments | CSS pays 70% of average daily earnings from day 4, up to 26 weeks | The first 3 days and the gap to full pay |
From the US Social Security Administration country profile (2019 rules, may have changed). We could not confirm HRT cover 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.
90.9% of Latin American women aged 40 to 59 report at least one menopause symptom.
We have found no menopause workplace law, bill or guidance in Panama. 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 Panama:
- 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 work alongside CSS care and our private health insurance, without duplicating cover?
- 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 US$300 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: US$10,040 to US$30,391 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 Panama. The default salary is an illustrative figure for corporate employees; median income of employed people was B/.756 in September 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 Panama
Zora’s clinic and doctor directory does not list providers in Panama 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 Panama can still use Zora’s education and the Zora app. Ask us how your team in Panama would use Zora before you launch. See Zora’s employer guides for every country.
Rules and eligibility in Panama
CSS sickness benefit
The CSS pays 70% of average daily earnings in the two months before incapacity, from day 4, for up to 26 weeks for the same illness. It requires 6 months of contributions in the last 9 months (US Social Security Administration, 2019).
No menopause workplace rules
We have found no menopause-specific workplace law, bill or guidance in Panama. A written company policy is the clearest way to set expectations for managers.
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 Panama have to give menopause leave?
No. There is no menopause leave. Employees use sick leave, holiday or flexible arrangements unless their employer offers more.
How does sickness benefit work in Panama?
The CSS pays 70% of average daily earnings from day 4, for up to 26 weeks.
Who pays for CSS medical care?
Employers pay 8% of payroll for medical benefits. Employees pay 0.5% of earnings for cash sickness benefits.
How common are menopause symptoms in Latin America?
In a study of 8,373 women aged 40 to 59, 90.9% reported at least one symptom.
At what age do Panamanian women reach menopause?
We found no Panama-specific figure. The median across Latin America is 48.6.
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 Panama 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 Panama team. No obligation.
Sources
- Blümel, Chedraui et al., Age at menopause in Latin America, Menopause, 2006 (17,150 women)
- Blümel, Chedraui et al., Menopausal symptoms in Latin America, Climacteric, 2012 (8,373 women)
- INEC Panamá, Labour market survey, September 2025
- US Social Security Administration, Panama country profile, 2019
- 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