Dr Louise Newson launched Balance@Work on July 6 with a wider “hormone health working well” pitch that moves workplace support beyond menopause-only policies. Sarah Davies is leading the organisation as managing director, and the business is positioning itself around performance, retention and culture rather than one-off wellbeing messaging. Newson, who launched Newson Health in 2018, is now extending that workplace-facing model to cover perimenopause, menopause, PMDD and PCOS or PMOS.
The launch coincided with a workplace hormone health survey involving more than 5,500 women. Balance@Work said the first findings will be released next week as part of its The Work You Don’t See campaign, a framing that points directly at hidden productivity costs and the symptoms that often stay unspoken in UK organisations. Newson Partnerships describes those workplace effects as including tiredness, brain fog, low mood, anxiety, heavy periods, PMS, PMDD, perimenopause and menopause, all of which it says can undermine energy, focus and overall performance.
That broader brief is what sets Balance@Work apart from the more familiar workplace menopause schemes. It is not just selling awareness of menopause symptoms; it is selling a wider employer strategy that would give line managers language to talk about hormone-related issues, improve signposting and, if it works, reduce presenteeism before it becomes a retention problem. The risk is obvious too: a broad hormone health banner could widen access to support for employees with PMDD or PCOS-related symptoms, but it could also blur the specific adjustments needed for perimenopause and menopause if employers treat every condition as the same.
The policy background is already pushing employers in this direction. Acas says menopause is not a specific protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010, but employers still have duties under health and safety law and should train managers to support workers sensitively. GOV.UK published guidance on 4 March 2026 on workplace adjustments for employees experiencing menopause, saying personalised adjustments can support wellbeing and ability to work. A 2025 parliamentary written answer said the Employment Rights Bill would require large employers with more than 250 employees to produce Menopause Action Plans if passed.
The evidence base Balance@Work is entering is substantial but uneven. Newson’s earlier Balance menopause-at-work survey covered 1,132 women and found more than 90% said symptoms negatively affected work. Government literature later cited a 2020 online survey of 5,399 respondents in which only 19% knew what support their workplace offered. The CIPD’s research, based on more than 2,000 UK women aged 40 to 60, linked workplace support to staying in work and progressing. EHRC guidance adds detail: among respondents whose symptoms affected work, 79% said they were less able to concentrate, 68% experienced more stress, 49% felt less patient with clients and colleagues, and 46% felt less physically able to do their tasks. The test for Balance@Work is whether that new label changes manager practice, retention and absence, or simply repackages the same conversation.