This week the US Congress finally got a menopause accommodations bill of its own, while the states keep moving at very different speeds and the UK settles into its new action plan regime. Here is what changed, what stalled, and why it matters for anyone navigating perimenopause at work.
The US: menopause gets a bill number in Congress
The biggest news this week is federal. On 14 July 2026, Representatives Debbie Dingell (D-MI) and Yvette Clarke (D-NY) introduced H.R. 9671, a bill to give workers experiencing menopause and perimenopause symptoms a clear right to reasonable workplace accommodations, so they can do their jobs without risking their health or their paycheck. It has been referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce, among others. Source
Until now, everything happening in the US has been state by state. Rhode Island became the first state to explicitly require menopause accommodations (that law has been in effect since 24 June), Washington’s governor signed Executive Order 26-01 on menopause accommodations for state agencies on 1 June, and bills are moving in California and elsewhere. A federal bill will not pass quickly, and may not pass at all in this Congress, but it changes the conversation: menopause accommodation is now a named issue in Washington DC, not just in a handful of statehouses.
The UK: action plans are live, the clock is ticking
Under the Employment Rights Act 2025, the UK government has launched guidance for menopause action plans alongside gender pay gap reporting. Large employers (250 or more employees) are being encouraged to publish plans now during a voluntary phase, and reportedly these plans become mandatory from spring 2027, submitted through the same service as gender pay gap data. Source
The interesting part is what counts as a plan: at least one concrete measure, chosen with workforce demographics in mind, with the guidance nudging employers toward more ambitious steps and senior leadership involvement. In other words, a poster in the break room will not cut it.
This week’s roundup
- H.R. 9671 (US federal): introduced 14 July 2026 by Reps. Dingell and Clarke, this bill would create an explicit federal right to reasonable accommodations for menopause and perimenopause symptoms at work. It matters because right now protection depends entirely on which state you live in. Source
- United Kingdom: government guidance for menopause action plans under the Employment Rights Act 2025 is live, with large employers in a voluntary phase ahead of mandatory plans reportedly arriving in spring 2027. This is the first national regime anywhere that makes menopause support a reporting obligation. Source
- California, AB 1940: the bill to write perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause into the definition of “sex” under the Fair Employment and Housing Act was amended and re-referred to committee on 23 June, so it is still alive and moving through the legislature. If it passes, discrimination and failure to accommodate would be unambiguously unlawful in the biggest state economy in the country. Source
- Virginia: a setback here. Governor Spanberger declined to sign the bills adding menopause and perimenopause as protected categories with accommodation rights (HB 1173 and SB 258), proposing a state study instead, though she did sign legislation requiring state-regulated insurance to cover medically necessary menopause treatment. Coverage without workplace protection is half a win. Source
- Rhode Island: the first-in-the-nation menopause accommodation law has now been in force since 24 June. Employers with four or more employees must work with staff to find reasonable accommodations for symptoms like hot flashes and night sweats unless it creates undue hardship. Other states are watching how it plays out. Source
- Canada: national media coverage this week (18 July) asked whether Canada should follow the US and UK lead on workplace menopause support, a sign the policy conversation is spreading beyond the countries that started it. Source
Why we’re tracking this
Every one of these developments is progress, and I genuinely celebrate them. But a bill in committee does not help you at 2pm on a Tuesday when the rage hits and you are three minutes from a meeting. A mandatory action plan arriving in spring 2027 does not help you this afternoon. That gap, between policy on paper and support in the moment, is exactly why I’m building Rage Release: private, stigma-free, immediate support for women navigating perimenopause, right when the symptoms hit. The law is slowly catching up. Until it does (and honestly, even after), we deserve tools that work today.
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