Imagine you’re a server at a busy restaurant that requires you to wear a form-fitting, polyester shirt as part of the uniform. When a hot flash hits, you are a sweaty mess. You really wish your employer would let you wear a cotton T-shirt instead.
If you live in Philadelphia, relief is on the way.
Beginning Jan. 1, 2027, the city of Philadelphia will prohibit discrimination on the basis of menstruation, perimenopause, and menopause, and it will require employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees for needs related to these conditions.
Perimenopause is the transitional period before menopause, marked by fluctuations in the hormones estrogen and progesterone. Menopause marks the end of the reproductive years, defined by not having a period for 12 consecutive months.
Both life stages are having a moment.
Social media is rife with influencers and life coaches selling supplements to relieve night sweats, clear brain fog, and sustain libido. Many encourage strength training, walking with weighted vests, hormone replacement therapy, and creatine, a compound that works to add muscle mass.
As a law professor at Villanova University, I teach and write about employment law and gender discrimination. I often focus on solutions to real-world problems for women and girls in the workplace.
Recently, I’ve taken up strength training, protein shakes, and needlepoint. I’m clearly leaning into my identity as a woman over 50.
I believe the Philadelphia ordinance is a model for other cities and states to provide relief for workers suffering from symptoms of hormonal cycles and changes while balancing the needs of employers.
Following Rhode Island’s lead
Women’s health advocates have brought attention to the lack of training for medical professionals on the issues girls and women face resulting from menstruation, perimenopause, and menopause.
In 2022, for example, a national survey of 145 OB-GYN residency program directors found that fewer than one-third of programs included curriculum on menopause. This is despite the fact that every single woman, if she lives long enough, will go through it.
While some progress has been made in the medical field, there has been even less when it comes to workplace protections.
To address this gap, in July 2025, Rhode Island became the first state to prohibit discrimination on the basis of menopause. Rhode Island also requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees experiencing menopause-related symptoms.
The Philadelphia City Council said: “Hold my weighted vest.”
In December 2025, the council amended the Philadelphia Code to prohibit discrimination on the basis of menstruation, perimenopause, and menopause. For example, if an employer fires an employee because of heavy menstrual bleeding resulting in leaking, that would violate the new law.
In addition, the City Council amended Section 9-1128, which requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for needs related to pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition. That list now also includes “symptoms of menstruation, perimenopause, or menopause” — provided the employee requests the accommodation, and it does not cause an undue hardship for the employer.
Experts in medicine and public health testified before the Philadelphia City Council and described the physical and emotional symptoms women and girls may face during these life stages. These symptoms include abdominal or pelvic cramping, fatigue, mood changes, headaches, irregular menstrual cycles, hot flashes, sleep disturbances, and cognitive changes.
One expert noted that 23% of women who are experiencing perimenopause have symptoms severe enough to “interfere with their daily functioning and work performance.”
Employers will not have to accommodate every symptom, only those that “substantially interfere with an employee’s ability to perform one or more job functions.” Although the new ordinance does not define “substantially interfere,” the intent is to require accommodations when a worker cannot perform some part of her job — for instance, if period pain is so high that a retail worker cannot stand for their shift, or if hot flashes prevent a food service worker from staying in the kitchen.
Clear and explicit protections
In light of existing anti-discrimination laws, why is such a targeted law necessary?
Federal, state, and local laws already prohibit employers in Philadelphia from discriminating because of sex. They also require employers with 15 or more employees to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions.
Federal, state, and local laws also prohibit employers from discriminating against people with disabilities and require reasonable accommodations to allow them to perform the essential functions of the job.
But menopause and menstruation protections do not clearly fall within these protections.
There are a few cases across the country in which an employee successfully challenged their firing for a condition related to menstruation. But other employees have lost cases under federal law when courts ruled that menstruation is not covered by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act or Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
Further, people seeking protection under the Americans with Disabilities Act for menstruation complications such as endometriosis, which occurs when tissue grows outside of the uterus and often causes severe pain during menstrual cycles, face an uphill battle.
Instead of requiring employees who experience these sorts of symptoms to fit their cases into other statutes, Philadelphia’s new ordinance makes protection clear and explicit.
Reasonable accommodations
During a hearing on the proposed legislation, council member Nina Ahmad, who introduced the bill, noted that the accommodations envisioned are not costly. She and other council members gave specific examples: Access to bathrooms and drinking water, brief flexible breaks, breathable uniforms, temperature control to manage hot flashes, fans or ventilation, ability to layer clothing, stocked period products, and brief scheduling flexibility.
The type of accommodations necessary will change depending on the employee’s industry. Many women who experience symptoms can already decide what they wear to work, when they take a bathroom break, and maybe even whether to work remotely.
However, for workers in retail and service, or other workplaces with strict break policies, the ability to request a bathroom break or to drink water during a shift could significantly ease symptoms.
Just as the accommodations required will differ by job and industry, the employer’s ability to demonstrate undue hardship will also differ. Under the Philadelphia Code, undue hardship is an individualized assessment that considers such factors as the cost of the accommodations, the size of the workforce, and the employer’s financial resources.
The devil is in the details, of course, but come January 2027, relief should be on the way for workers who are just trying to do their jobs while suffering from symptoms caused by menstruation, perimenopause, and menopause.
This article was originally published by Ann Juliano from Villanova University, and was originally published on The Conversation.
Header Image by Sora Shimazaki via Pexels
