to think a 'day off for periods' is a damaging gimmick

[peaceoftheaction]

This company in the news giving women period days off. I mean ffs women have struggled for so long to get taken seriously in the workplace. I think the publicity about this does more harm than good.

[CrohnicallyAspie]

Was it time off for periods or working flexibly? If it's the latter than that's great, wouldn't you rather someone was able to work around their menstrual cycle instead of taking time off? (Meaning others have to cover her workload)

For example DH, while not a woman, works 5 days one week and 4 the next, his days are very slightly longer than average (less than 1 hour) which enables him to work alternate Fridays. So why couldn't a woman do something similar and save her 'extra' day off a fortnight, and have 2 days off when her period is at its worst?

[Buckinbronco]

It does sound rather woo doesn't it? Probably won't affect Sarah who works in boots chemists creativity all that much

[StrattersDD]

YABVU. I suffer from endomitriosis, and would welcome days off school for this without fretting, as I have passed out at school from the pain.

[Fluffyears]

Oh I would have welcomed that on Friday, bad cramps, nausea and very heavy flow. I think the problem is that taking 12 sick days a year is not possible mainly due to attendance monitoring in most work places. Allowing you to work around the bad days is actually a great benefit. Periods should not be taboo and whispered about they should be discussed as a fact of life which they are, every woman has them.

[rosebiggs]

Yes I agree that it is like labour pain. I used to get this when I was in my 20's, but thankfully I don't any more.
I didn't know that there was a medical term for it. I went to see my GP so many times to ask for strong pain killers so that I could try to control the pain, but I was fobbed off every time.

[StrattersDD]

I honestly think this won't be damaging, as maybe people will take other's period pain more seriously

[MyMoneyIsAllSpent]

theycallmemellojello Wed 02-Mar-16 20:19:48 < This. We are not men. We are different. But we are not inferior. The cynical side of me thinks that if men suffered periods they would have had time off eons ago! I suffered agony with my period before my first DC. Some women don't suffer so much, so they don't realise and should not judge.

I welcome changes to the working situation, I am not a morning person, I think starting at 8 am is torture. I welcome any flexibility around work that enables anyone to do their best.

[MagicalHamSandwich]

MTPurse I've had several miscarriages and none of them were anywhere near as bad as my worst periods. My mother had them, too, and still claims she'd rather give birth to triplets than ever have a period again. She had both of us by vaginal birth and thinks labour wasn't even remotely comparable to her worst periods. I still have childhood memories of her lying on the floor, screaming in pain and my dad yelling down the phone at our GP who wouldn't do anything.

[HelsBels3000]

I agree with period days off - I could only manage to work through mine due to the toilet within 10 yards of my office, in which I can be found every 30mins on a heavy flow day. Horrendous.

[NotMeNotYouNotAnyone]

It's not about time off, i read the article earlier and it's about flexible working so time has to be made back. I think that where possible workplaces should encourage that anyway for all smployees, but sometimes they can't for genuine business reasonsmy work is pretty flexible, people do a variety of shifts but it's hard to be flexible with no notice because training and projects are scheduled around standard capacities. So you can have every Tuesday off and finish early every Wednesday for example, but you can't usually finish early if you request it on the same day unless there's capacity or its exceptional circumstances. the vast majority of the work force are under 40, about 50/50 male female split. It just wouldn't work for half of us to come in last randomly because it was our period. And there would be a general opinion of people taking the piss (some would. Some would genuinely need the time but understandably not want to discuss in detail with colleagues).

[Trills]

The idea of allowing flexible working and understanding around illness is very good.

Labelling it as being about periods is bad - as has been said it puts the idea of "women are unreliable" at the forefront of people's minds.

[TheFairyCaravan]

I think it's a ridiculous idea.

I say that as someone who suffers with severe SPD that has been made worse by my menstrual cycle for the last 20 years, I get severe menstrual and ovulation migranes, my ibs flares up, I get horrendous cramps and I have had to have an endometrial ablation 8 years ago because my periods were so heavy.

If you're too ill to work, for whatever the reason, take a sick day.

[SimonLeBonOnAndOn]

I'm a police officer and a year or so ago I was suffering with very heavy and painful periods.
It's not that easy to get to toilets when you're stuck at a scene or an RTC.
I was regularly flooding and distinctly recall blood running down my legs into my boots as I dealt with a child protection call.


I wanted to die.
I would have loved to have had the chance to ask my boss if I could maybe be station bound for a day or two until it passed.

Unless you've had terrible periods please be less judgemental.

[Alisvolatpropiis]

Works alright in other countries. Japan has had similar in place since the late 1940's.

[TheLesserSpottedBee]

Tbh I think if peoples periods are that bad, which I don't doubt they are, then the medical profession/medical research etc needs to be doing more to address it

Ah yes, as this thread seems to have many a fellow sufferer of endometriosis, can I point out to those who aren't knowledgeable in this subject that there is no cure they can only manage the symptoms.

As someone who underwent a fake menopause at 27 to try to stop the horrific pain that is endo, I would welcome a drug I could take that cured me. That doesn't include the other drugs and surgery I suffered through.

I am now a SAHM because of endo. Lots of companies wouldn't allow me to have 1 -2 days a month as sick leave. I would welcome a job with flexible working. As it happens, I am lucky that Dh has seen me crawling on the floor with pain so is very supportive of me not working.

[PrettyBrightFireflies]

It does sound rather woo doesn't it? Probably won't affect Sarah who works in boots chemists creativity all that much

I'm sure I've read studies about how the productivity of female sales reps, manufacturers, teachers etc are all affected by their monthly cycle - I'll see if I can find it; i think it is what is behind todays press coverage.

If a company has a choice, they would want their employees at work at times when they are at their most productive, wouldnt they? More output for the same money is better for the company.

[WhiteBlueDaisies]

I was really suffering with period pain at work yesterday. I was actually sweating the cramps were that bad, I also had a headache, felt lightheaded and just drained.

I don't normally have bad periods, so was caught off guard. I really wanted to go home sick and crawl into bed, but was thinking 'I can't go home for period pain, what will people say?'

Even just an hour for the paracetamol to kick in would have helped. Being off sick for period pain just seems 'wrong' somehow, which is ridiculous I know! Maybe this would go some way towards changing that? Who knows.

[PrettyBrightFireflies]

Labelling it as being about periods is bad - as has been said it puts the idea of "women are unreliable" at the forefront of people's minds.

Only because of the culture within which we work.

It could equally be interpreted as "women are different".

[grumpysquash3]

If you work in a male dominated workplace where it has been hard to establish a career as a professional woman, and in a workplace culture where nipping out of a meeting for a couple of minutes to go to the loo is not the done thing, it is hard to see how period days will cut it.
Unfortunately.
In my workplace no-one ever even mentions periods. Ever. And not because we are a bunch of prudes :)

[MagicalHamSandwich]

The thing is: regularly calling in sick will also give you a rep for being unreliable. And if you tell them why you may find that your male boss thinks you're a drama queen because his wife isn't like that at all.

That's precisely the reason I spend two days a month on prescription painkillers and bitch at my poor team. I could call in sick but they'd see me as weak. I'd much prefer a flexible solution that allows me to compensate for time lost without having to rack up a number of sick days that eventually gets flagged to HR.

[MrsJayy]

Periods are easy for some women some not so much this isnt about a bit of cramp and an excuse this is now seen as a medical reason for having a sick day although I see your point but being feminist does not mean we are the same as men.

[MrsJayy]

I had a period pain like a bloody contraction yesterday it took my breath away if a woman is meant to function at work with so much pain then that is unfair

[MrsJayy]

Is it flexi or sick days ?

[Judydreamsofhorses]

I actually cried at lunchtime yesterday - my first 24 hours are always horrible, cramps, headache and feeling really sick. At the end of my last morning class a student needed to stay behind and talk to me, and I realised I wouldn't have time to eat lunch, so couldn't take the good drugs which have to be taken after food. I had to sweat and shake my way through the afternoon's classes on a couple of paracetamol. There's no way my job could be done flexibly, but i wish I could have asked my male manager if I could have gone home when I finished teaching instead of having to work office hours. Regardless of how much things have come on - pardon the pun - there is still a massive culture of shame around periods.

[manicinsomniac]

I'm on the fence.

On the one hand, if someone suffers from periods that make them ill then it seems unfair that they have to waste 12+ days of sick leave on something as inevitable as their period. It means men in the same workplace have a lot more days to play with and might not need to come in while feeling shit quite so often.

On the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes seen by men (and some women) as being about hormones and 'PMT' and 'oh, my female boss isn't coming in today because she's moody ha ha ha'. I would worry about it being a step backwards for women's respect in the workplace as a PP said.