Microsoft and the NBA are offering menopause benefits to keep women at work

Microsoft, Palantir and Abercrombie & Fitch are among a small but increasing number of U.S. businesses offering menopause benefits, with women most likely to be affected now representing 20% of the female workforce.

About 4% of employers that offer sick leave are providing additional support for menopause such as access to hormone therapy and counseling, according to a report Tuesday by benefits consultant NFP. The survey, which polled 522 human resources employees involved in creating and updating their companies' leave policies, found that about a third of businesses that don't currently provide accommodations for menopause are open to offering them in the next five years. It was the first time NFP asked the question about menopause benefits.

Employers are stepping in as menopause-related loss of productivity and medical expenses are costing the U.S. economy $26.6 billion a year, a report from Mayo Clinic showed. Women aged 45-54 are a growing segment of the U.S. labor market, and their ability to work may be affected by symptoms like sleep disturbances and hot flashes during this period.

Read more: Why menopause support is a trending workplace benefit

"Replacing them is going to cost the company so much more than supporting them," Maria Trapenasso, who leads NFP's national human resources consulting practice, said in an interview. "These are also your most seasoned leaders," she said, adding that they often mentor newer employees and bring stability to a business.

Microsoft noticed the issue bubbling up over recent years, and in July started offering access to specialists and educational resources to employees globally, according to Sonja Kellen, senior director of global health and wellbeing at the Redmond, Washington-based software maker. Maven Clinic, the company's virtual healthcare provider, logged over 3,000 provider-member interactions in 58 countries during the first two months.

"We had such a phenomenal response to it, so clearly it was showing that employees had some pent-up demand for this," Kellen said in an interview.

Read more: Another reason employees want to work from home: menopause

British bank Standard Chartered this month said it would cover treatment of menopause-related symptoms for all employees and their partners globally. The lender noted that the ages that women suffer menopause are also "the point at which they could attain senior leadership roles.'' It said about 7% of employees are represented in this group.

The National Basketball Association, clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch and data analysis firm Palantir have also recently started offering menopause benefits through Carrot Fertility, the provider said. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, which recently held a menopause webinar during which Chief Executive Officer Sarah Iselin shared her own experience, offers wellness coaching and allows employees to use sick time for managing symptoms. At Maven, its menopause service is the company's fastest-growing offering, with 300 clients signing on since it launched late last year, according to CEO Kate Ryder.

The demand is set to continue to grow, according to Jill Angelo, co-founder and CEO of virtual menopause clinic Gennev. "You're starting to see this generation of older millennials that have grown up with fertility care in the workplace now aging into menopause," Angelo, a former Microsoft executive, said in an interview. "And they're going to have those expectations of that level of care that they've been receiving in the fertility space from their employer.''