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.

[PrettyBrightFireflies]

I can't imagine anyone who is self employed would take a day off work because of period pain.

I'm SE (think similar to conference planning) and I manage my schedule around my monthly cycle. Before I accept a job, I check where I'll be in my cycle. I never accept a contract when the event is on the first few days of my period because 1) I know the week running up is very stressful and I get PM anxiety anyway, and 2) i can't do long, busy days on the first day or two of my period cos the flow is so heavy. I wouldn't book an appointment a long drive away during that week, either.

For me, it's one of the huge perks of SE, and I'm a lot more productive as a result - I use 'period' time to catch up on paperwork, reading, phone calls. I appreciate not everyone's work is as flexible, but it seems eminently sensible for employers to pay their employees when they are at their maximum productivity.

[shutupandshop]

We are not robots

[MattDillonsPants]

It's a marvellous thing. Periods can now be discussed openly and dispassionately. It's not THAT long ago that even women couldn't speak about them!

Now we can. AND employers are realising they can be debilitating. I can't leave the house for a day sometimes when mine arrives. I literally can't be trusted to sit down.

[fluffypacman]

Hi all. I've been reading this with interest. I've been lucky that bar a spell of painful periods in my teens I have had not majorly problem periods.....they do drag on a bit though and can be heavy at first but that's about it. I've always been a slight Eco warrior in that I've always tried to recycle and used predominantly cloth nappies on my children.....anyway.... It lead me to try cloth pads and a menstrual cup. It was a bit eww when I was younger so never tried it but now with kids, I'm used to mopping and wiping all sorts so I thought I'd give it a go. It's made no difference to my periods but I've heard many reports from other women that these have helped their periods become less painful and shorter in length. The menstrual cup took a few goes to get right and I always wear pads for back up but it means I don't have to change my sanitary wear at all while at work, not even on my heaviest day (super- super plus tampon territory). Because it doesn't shed fibre inside you there's a lower link to toxic shock so it can be worn for up to 12 hours without removal. The cloth pads are so cosy it's like giving your foof a little cuddle when it's at its most sensitive. I realise it won't sort out endometriosis but for those that have a really rough time I thought it might be worth mentioning. X

[Movingonmymind]

I like the idea of working around our natural cycle, just as you say, not currently achievable unless you are SE or working from home.
I do have heavy periods-super plus tampons and pads to change every 1.5 hours or even hour for 1-2 days but I manage this mostly in my role. Chronic Insomnia also but all this is far less debilitating than many on here and is not cancer etc so still don't feel I need a special period day. I could do with working around my cycle, sure. But pigs might fly!

[LillianGish]

I think this is great in theory - particularly for those who have debilitating symptoms. In reality it is just another reason for employers to see women as the weaker sex - who might get pregnant, have to take time off for sick children and might need a couple of days off every month (and be unreasonable, irrational and tearful in the previous week). I think if you are really in a bad way then take a day off sick (and perhaps try to seek medical help for endometriosis, fibroids or whatever), but to suggest that every woman routinely needs a couple of days off is not helpful.

[MattDillonsPants]

Lillian no I disagree. Periods don't make us the weaker sex....just different to men. If men had periods we'd not say they were weaker than us. We have to acknowledge our periods...theyr'e real. Nobody's suggesting EVERY woman needs a couple of days off but if I weren't self employed, I would really struggle...I can't go out on the first day of mine.

[dudsville]

I wish we'd had this policy a few years back. I was managing a team in which a member of staff had monthly sick leave due to her painful periods. As it was taken as sick leave it meant that her workload was not managed and anticipated. She was reluctant to talk about this but finaly, because of our sick leave policy triggering a meeting, I got to talk with her about this. I tried to offer flexible working but 90% of her daily work responsibilities required work with clients and she felt I wasn't being fair by not providing more indirect work (that simply wasn't the role she applied for). The sick leave policy was not sufficient for such regular and predictable difficulties and I felt she and I would have been better served by a policy like this.

[mineofuselessinformation]

I haven't RTFT.
But, years ago, I had to go through the humiliation of having a female senior member of staff ask me why I was taking time off every month. I had endometriosis, which caused crippling pain (I used to really hope I would faint so I didn't have to feel it for a few minutes).
If women are able to talk about their period pain, in my view, that's a good thing - and maybe, just maybe, it will improve the treatment that women get, rather than have unsympathetic health professionals fob them off.

[LillianGish]

I'm not saying periods make women the weaker sex - just that suggesting women need a few days of work every month might make some men think they are justified in coming to that conclusion. Women are different to men, but it's better to play those differences down if you think men and women should have equal opportunities. It's a short step from saying women are different to men to saying some jobs are more suitable for women and some are more suitable for men (which is how things used to be not very long ago).

[TheFormidableMrsC]

I don't think is a bad policy at all. I have seen other women deal with horribly embarrassing situations during my many years working in the city that such a policy would have avoided. My DD could do with this. She is crippled for at least two days a month, vomiting, fainting, in agonising pain. It is so very much underestimated.

Thank fuck for menopause is all I can say...

[PalcumTowder]

If your periods are causing so much pain that you are physically unable to work you should be able to have treatment to help, and you should be able to get sick note that allows you to take time off without it affecting your job security. To suggest that ALL women suffer in the same way and need the same amount of time off is ridiculous and insulting. People should be treated as individuals.

My periods certainly don't impact on my ability to work and I'd be very pissed off at the suggestion that they did, just because they do to someone else.

[MattDillonsPants]

No it's not better to play the differences down. Quite the opposite! It is only by acknowledging our differences that we can all gain true understanding of men and women and the differences. If we all carry on, regardless...pretending it's all fine when it isn't then it's just lies. SOME women don't have terrible periods but plenty DO. For those women it needs acknowledging.

[MattDillonsPants]

Palcum but I don't think anyone has suggested that ALL women suffer like this. Though not sure why it would piss you off.

[FlowersAndShit]

I'll never forget when I was around 12, it was in the middle of the night and I was rolling around on the bathroom floor in absolute agony. I tried calling out for my mum to help me "please god help me" but I was in so much pain I couldn't shout. I would have panic attacks because of the pain, diahorea, feeling faint. The only thing that took the edge off was a scalding hot bath, although I would feel hot and faint and vomit in the bath, but I didn't care because I was in so much pain.

I'm ashamed to say that I was in so much pain that I literally shit myself in the chair once as I couldn't run up the stairs to go to the toilet. My mum and stepdad bollocked me for that they didn't take me seriously, even my mum had awful periods.

I was finally diagnosed with endometriosis and adenomyosis (endo of the womb) when I was 22. My periods are nowhere near as bad as they once were but are still pretty painful. I've never had a job due to MH issues but I honestly don't know how I'd be able to cope with working and period pain.

[CaughtUpNearTimbuktu]

But we ARE different to men. That's what makes us women.

[MintyBojingles]

If I took a day off every month for period pain I'd be cautioned, hauled into HR, and put on probation.

I suffer from horrendous period pains, no diagnosed issue, and I have always had to pray the worst day falls on a weekend living in fear of it happening on a week. Employers in the past have not been sympathetic. More awareness of how serious it can been is needed.

[TheNewStatesman]

"It should be sick leave if you have dehabilitating periods. It's terrible if you do and there should be proper recognition of it and proper treatment available.

But many women don't and it's not helpful to suggest all women need a couple of days off each month."

THIS.

If a woman has disabling periods, then that is a medical reason which merits time off. But ordinary periods are not a medical condition.

[bananafish81]

I can't imagine what you ladies go through every month, it sounds utterly horrendous and you're absolute warrior women

May I ask a very naive question? I realise this is probably very stupid so please do set me straight with what is a blindingly obvious answer

Is there a reason you have to have periods if you're not TTC?

I used to only have a couple of periods a year by back to backing my pill packets - I had exceptionally light periods so mine were more of an inconvenience than anything, but as I'd had PCOS and never really had periods when not on the pill, it seemed a massive faff to have to have one every bloody month (no pun intended)

My friends on the depo shot haven't had a period in years

Realise this masks and doesn't treat the problem, and hormonal birth control isn't for everyone, so I'm probably answering my own ridiculous question. But the symptoms sound utterly dreadful

[bettyberry]

bananafish81 I had a previous DVT so most hormonal contraceptives are out because the risks are just too great.

Monthly migraine too rules out quite a few of them.

I'm buggered when it comes to contraception. Hormonal contraceptives are out, allergic to latex and copper coil will make my cramps and bleeding worse.

With the right medication - codeine for migraines, antispasmodics for the IBS, a hot water bottle, airforce carrier sized pads and scheduling carefully I cope.

[houseeveryweekend]

I think this is a really interesting topic. Lots of people say thing slike 'women have struggled to be taken seriously in the workplace' which they have but of course they are still struggling and the best way for them to get ahead seems to be to pretend to be men. Is that right? I don't really think it is right to be honest. There seems to be trend thinking that we are getting somewhere with feminism but all people seem to have achieved is the freedom to act like men as that is still viewed as superior and the symbol of power.
Women have different bodies to men.... a lot of women experience periods and a lot of women get pregnant amongst other related things..... these are facts of life and yet they are not taken into account in workplaces very much at all. Mainly because most workplaces were traditionally for men so cater to mens needs. Many women now work fulltime and need their issues thought about. They don't need to be forced into pretending they aren't women in order to gain respect. There is nothing weak about being a woman. Some periods effect women incredibly badly and its actually very common. Its common enough that it should be thought about in terms of womens ability to work. Only recently in history women were not catered for when they were pregnant either. They simply lost their jobs if they became pregnant. When maternity laws were brought in to protect women from this there was similar backlash 'women want to be treated equally to men yet they expect special treatment when they are pregnant'... 'oh you cant have it all, you cant work and have kids' the assumption being that in order to join the world of work you had to cast aside womanhood and basically pretend you were a man. Because only men can work. Women are weak. Women have babies and periods and that means they are weak..... No it doesn't it just means those things have to be taken into account. Women can achieve whatever the hell they want but they shouldn't have to do it by pretending they aren't women and they don't suffer from things to do with biologically being a woman! Women make up so much of the workforce here now that its actual madness that their biologically based problems are not taken into account in workplaces. It just stems from misogyny I think, the idea that there is something 'less' about womens problems, that they aren't real issues they are just an excuse etc etc because men don't have periods periods are thought of as irrelevant by most of society

[TelephoneIgnoringMachine]

I get 3 sick days per year. Bearing in mind I suffer chronic hemiplegic migraines (which manifest exactly like a stroke, leaving me incapable of speech, walking & occasionally even bladder control), I'm not sure how I would manage if I also had to take a day or more off each month for periods. Added insult to injury, going on the pill over a decade ago, which was supposed to make periods better, triggered the migraines. Thank goodness the periods improved after I had a baby - I'd have been sacked ages ago otherwise.

[CaughtUpNearTimbuktu]

My aforementioned migraines mean any form of artificial hormones is highly dangerous. Plus I'm ttc which isn't happening and hasn't for several years...

[CaughtUpNearTimbuktu]

Ooh hello telephone I've never come across another hemiplegic sufferer before!

[bettyberry]

Actually that's a good question re 'why can't you do something to stop them '

• this isn't an attack on the PP btw -
  

this is part of the problem I feel. That we, as women have to shut off one of our very important biological features in order to work effectively. That we should use synthetic hormones to control them to a point that makes us able to compete and work like men. When men don't have to do the same to compete and work like us.

We are biologically different and when it comes to public spaces, the workplace, our needs should be met regardless of gender. As a PP said its doing us a massive disservice to 'be like men' when we have incredible strengths as women that are important. It's not our fault that many of us have a biological fuction that is disabling and hinders our ability to work but with employers working with us around our periods would actually make us much better, happier and efficient employees.