October brings Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Menopause Awareness Month – now well-recognised dates in the HR calendar. Many employers are running awareness sessions, offering webinars, and have introduced menopause policies. Yet one important intersection remains largely invisible: menopause triggered by cancer treatment.

Chemotherapy, ovarian surgery, or hormone therapy can bring on a sudden, often permanent menopause, sometimes decades earlier than expected. For HR leaders, this represents an urgent but overlooked challenge: how to retain and support staff who are navigating menopause after cancer.

Workplaces are starting to talk more about menopause and cancer, but rarely about what happens when the two collide. That’s where too many employees are left without the support they need.

The impact of breast cancer treatment on menopause

Breast cancer is the most common cancer worldwide, affecting 2.3 million people each year. In the UK alone, approximately 55,000 new cases occur annually and, importantly, one in five of those affect women under 50, according to Breast Cancer Now.

This means a growing number of employees are facing breast cancer during critical career stages, while they are building leadership experience, working towards promotion, or already managing teams.

For many, treatment does not just bring the familiar side effects of fatigue, anxiety or ‘chemo brain’. It can also trigger a sudden menopause that is more severe than natural menopause and arrives almost overnight, leaving employees with little time to prepare or adjust. Most are not ready for the scale and intensity of symptoms, which creates enormous psychological pressure and affects every aspect of daily life, at home as well as at work.

Treatment-induced menopause can strike suddenly and disrupt not only health but also confidence and performance at work.

Further research from Breast Cancer Now shows that younger women with breast cancer are more likely to experience anxiety and depression than older patients. This compounds the challenge of sustaining careers while managing side effects they were never warned to expect.

Common challenges include:

• Sudden hot flushes and night sweats
• Joint and muscle pain, making it difficult to sit at a desk for long periods
• Memory and concentration problems
• Poor sleep and ongoing fatigue
• Fluctuating mood, anxiety and reduced ability to manage stress

Treatment-induced menopause can strike suddenly and disrupt not only health but also confidence and performance at work.

Why treatment-induced menopause matters for HR

Without support, employees experiencing treatment-induced menopause can struggle to sustain performance or remain in their roles. The consequences for employers include:

• Absenteeism and presenteeism, with employees missing work or struggling to perform
• Higher turnover, with the loss of skills, knowledge and team stability
• Risks to gender equity and diversity in leadership pipelines

Limited options for managing symptoms

For many women affected by breast cancer, managing treatment-induced menopause is especially challenging. This is because hormone replacement therapy (HRT), the most common treatment for menopause symptoms, is not usually an option due to the risk of cancer recurrence. This leaves very few alternatives for relief, and symptoms can be difficult to control.

In addition, hormonal (endocrine) treatments are often prescribed for five to ten years after initial cancer treatment. This means the effects of treatment-induced menopause are not temporary, but can last for much of a woman’s working life.

When medical options are limited, the burden of managing symptoms falls heavily on the individual.

This makes workplace understanding and flexibility all the more important. When employees cannot rely on medical treatments to ease symptoms, organisational support plays a vital role in helping them manage their daily lives at home and at work.

When medical options are limited, the burden of managing symptoms falls heavily on the individual. That is why understanding and support at work make such a critical difference.

Making workplace menopause support inclusive

Most workplace initiatives on menopause focus on natural, midlife experiences and rarely consider the sudden, often more severe menopause caused by cancer treatment. Medically induced menopause can also result from other treatments, such as ovarian suppression for endometriosis or fibroids, or surgery for some gynaecological cancers.

That’s why menopause policies must explicitly include medically induced cases. Otherwise, employees can feel invisible, unsure whether support applies to them, or reluctant to disclose their situation.

Alongside policy, it’s important to recognise the legal framework. In the UK, cancer is classed as a disability under the Equality Act 2010 from the point of diagnosis, giving employees the right to reasonable adjustments at work. Menopausal symptoms can also qualify as a disability if they are long-lasting and substantially affect daily life.

Supporting colleagues through menopause after cancer is not only the right thing to do, it is essential for retaining skilled, motivated people and creating workplaces where everyone can thrive.

Beyond compliance, there are clear, practical steps HR can take to better support affected employees:

• Update menopause policies. Explicitly recognise medically induced menopause and tailor support to younger employees.
• Offer flexible working. Adjusted hours, remote options and flexible schedules help employees manage symptoms and appointments.
• Support phased returns. Gradual reintegration after treatment reduces burnout and rebuilds confidence.
• Provide access to support and training. Specialist services, employee assistance programmes, and line manager training enable more consistent, confident responses.
• Collect and review data. Monitor how many employees are affected and evaluate how well current policies are working.

From awareness to action

Awareness months are important for starting conversations, but treatment-induced menopause after cancer is a growing workplace issue that must be addressed year-round. For HR leaders, this is both a legal duty of care and a business-critical opportunity to protect talent, strengthen diversity, and demonstrate compassionate leadership.

Supporting colleagues through menopause after cancer is not only the right thing to do, it is essential for retaining skilled, motivated people and creating workplaces where everyone can thrive.