January is often a busy and sometimes stressful month for HR teams. People return from the festive break still tired, adjusting routines and facing pressures to set the year off well.
At the same time, HR teams are planning budgets, checking absence patterns and supporting managers as the workload ramps up.
For many women, January can be especially challenging. Winter fatigue, disrupted sleep, ongoing health symptoms and life responsibilities can all affect how people feel at work. Planning for wellbeing in January is not about launching big new programmes. But it’s often a good opportunity to take stock and make small changes that help people stay well and engaged throughout the year.
This toolkit gives HR teams practical, evidence-informed steps to support women’s health and wellbeing from day one of the year.
Why this matters right now
Women generally take more sick days than men in the UK. In 2024, the ONS reported that the sickness absence rate was 2.5% for women compared with 1.6% for men, showing that women are more likely to take a day off for health reasons.
Many of these absences relate to health issues that are common but often invisible, including women’s health concerns.
Research from the CIPD shows that symptoms associated with menopause and perimenopause have a real impact on work. Three out of five women aged 45–55 say their symptoms have a negative impact on them at work. Around 17% of people have considered leaving their job because they did not get enough support for menopause symptoms, and 6% have actually left.
Other studies point to a broader trend. In a UK survey, almost one quarter of working women considered quitting their job due to menopausal or menstrual symptoms.
Many of the women surveyed also reported that symptoms affect mood, concentration and productivity – all these things will impact work performance and general wellbeing.
Women’s health matters for retention, engagement and productivity in every organisation.
What HR can do in January
It’s the New Year and everyone’s full of resolutions and good intentions. If your top employees are struggling at work because of women’s health challenges, they may be considering leaving your organisation for companies that offer better care, or leaving the workforce altogether.
Here are practical steps HR teams can take to create a workplace that supports women’s health and sets a strong wellbeing foundation for the year.
1. Make support easy to find and understand
Policies and resources are only useful if employees know where to find and use them.
In January, HR teams can:
- Share or re-share clear information about women’s health support, including menopause, menstrual health and reproductive health resources.
- Highlight confidential support options, such as wellbeing apps or external services.
- Include links to FAQs or guidance in internal newsletters and intranet pages.
Your aim is to make support visible and easy to access without making a big announcement or creating pressure.
2. Give managers practical tools, not policies
Managers often want to help but may not feel confident or sure where to start. HR can help by providing simple, practical tools such as:
- A short briefing document explaining common women’s health issues and how they may affect work.
- Conversation prompts that focus on work impact rather than personal health details.
- Examples of small, reasonable adjustments that can help.
Practical adjustments might include:
- Flexible start and finish times.
- Short, scheduled breaks.
- Easy access to water or a cooler workspace.
- Written follow-ups to verbal instructions.
These steps do not require managers to be health experts. They give managers language and actions that are supportive and sensible.
Download Anya’s Line Managers’ Conversation Guide
3. Look at absence data with a fresh lens
January is a good time to review absence data from the year before. Patterns can reveal where additional support might reduce future absence.
Instead of looking only at absence categories such as “illness” or “stress,” HR teams might:
- Look for repeat short-term absences that cluster around predictable health issues.
- Consider whether women’s health concerns could be part of wider trends.
- Talk to managers about what they see on the ground, without focusing on specific cases.
Understanding patterns as a whole helps HR plan meaningful support that reduces disruption and turnover.
4. Make support fair for all roles
Support needs to work for every part of your organisation.
Employees in office settings may have more flexibility than those in frontline or shift-based roles. In January, HR can check that women’s health support is practical for:
- Shift workers.
- Customer-facing roles.
- Deskless teams.
- Remote workers.
- Senior leaders as well as entry-level staff.
Health equity in the workplace means support should work in practice, not just look good in a policy document.
5. Be clear that support is confidential and normal
Many women feel uncomfortable talking about their health at work. In one UK survey, cited by NHS Inform, almost half of women who needed a day off because of menopause did not tell their employer the real reason.
HR communications can help by:
- Emphasising that support is private and confidential.
- Reinforcing that no one has to disclose personal health information to get help.
- Including women’s health as part of general wellbeing messaging so it feels normal and inclusive.
This quiet normalisation helps reduce stigma and encourages people to get help when they need it.
6. Set simple priorities for the first quarter
anuary support does not have to be a big project. A few clear goals for Q1 might include:
- Increasing awareness of women’s health resources.
- Improving manager confidence in supporting employees.
- Tracking engagement with wellbeing tools.
- Spotting early signs of absence that could be mitigated with better support.
These kinds of priorities are easy to measure and help show HR’s impact early in the year.
How Anya can help HR teams
Anya provides evidence-based, confidential women’s health support that employees can access anytime. This includes guidance on menopause, menstrual health, fertility, and early pregnancy.
Anya also offers practical resources that HR teams can use to support their workforce, reduce time spent on ad hoc queries, and strengthen wellbeing without adding to HR workload.
Final thoughts
By making support easy to find, giving managers clear tools, looking at data thoughtfully, and ensuring support is fair and confidential, HR teams can make a lasting difference to women’s wellbeing at work.