Do you think that we should get menstrual leave?

[Sarahpaula]

I have had such a terrible period this month. I was in so much pain. I feel so weak and tired. I know that many women feel like this. Do you think we should have an entitlement to menstrual leave from work?

Some countries already have menstrual leave in place. Mainly in Asia, from what I can see.

Here is an article:

in Taiwan, menstrual leave legislation was amended as recently as 2013. It guarantees women three days of menstrual leave a year on top of the 30 days half-paid sick leave given to all workers.
The extra three days came after a coalition of politicians claimed that incorporating menstrual leave into regular sick leave would be a violation of women’s rights. Indonesian women, too, are allowed two days a month menstrual leave and South Korean workers AND students are entitled to take days off when they’ve got their period as sick leave.

Menorah have you tried the moon cup ?
It’s a Tad visceral but it’s a good one for when you need to be focussed , as I was using 2 Lilet supers before (plus towels)
Can I ask your age ?
Fuck I’d be tempted to get the whole lot taken out in your case , it’s a brutal recover (8 weeks) but solves the problems

@ChazsBrilliantAttitude

My endo didn’t improve when I became teetotal. It did improve with surgery.

No, sadly drinking/not drinking makes sod all difference to endo. If only it were that easy! I don't know why anyone would expect it to - giving up alcohol won't get rid of endometrial tissue or stop menstruation..

Once it's got a hold, surgery really is the only answer but the NHS will make you jump through hoops to get it.

It’s a marketing ploy and from the movies that all women sit around eating giant slabs of chocolate during their period. Not all women sit around fat, crying, with a cat and a hot water bottle on their lap eating Nutella out of the jar for a few days a month.

The reality is you can’t sleep because you are boiling hot, sore and uncomfortable
You either can’t shit because iron has made you constipated or you can’t stop shitting as you have bowel cramps too
Eating though pain makes you feel sick and puts you off food
You have to take tablets every 4 hours to be able to function (you have to pay for these)

Not all women with horrible periods are fat and lazy and neglect their own health - hormones are not something you can control sometimes there is not a reason or an explanation. Surgery is not something to take lightly - major abdominal surgery with a huge risk of bleeding to death and weeks off work to recover. I’m a single parent how would I manage?

Not read the full thread but I think if someone has such bad periods that they can't go to work they should see a doctor, and doctors shouldn't dismiss it as "just" bad periods and do something about it.

However, I am peri-menopausal and have 1-2 days per month when I would prefer not to leave the house for very long, I've never been to the doctors about it, but am glad I can work from home. If I had a job where I didn't have instant access to a loo (teaching, shop work), I could well understand why someone might need to take those 1-2 days off.

I don't have periods, I choose to take the mini pill to stop them Your choice - some of us don't want to mess around with our hormones, even if it's a bit inconvenient at times. Definitely not a reason not to take problems with periods seriously!

I have the more a coil to stop periods, is that an option?

I'm a bit sceptical of this being a success. I'm curious on the log term effects and womens advancement in work place.

I don't support this. Why not increase sick days in general so everyone could take advantage of this regardless of their situation. Some might have bad period and some might have chronic back pain etc

I am supporting having bad period cramps as an acceptable reason to use sick leave and that it should be normalized, but just not to have specific period leaves.

It guarantees women three days of menstrual leave a year

Surely it should be 13 given that’s how many periods we get on average. Either way I’m in strong support

Why stop as menstrual leave for women? Why not migraine leave for migraine sufferers? Or hypo leave for diabetics? Or arthritis leave for those with a bad flare up??

@Aridane

Why stop as menstrual leave for women? Why not migraine leave for migraine sufferers? Or hypo leave for diabetics? Or arthritis leave for those with a bad flare up??

Actually, this is another reason that working from home being more widespread might ironically reduce discrimination in the workplace.

Haven’t read the full thread...

But what good is 10 days a year?!
That’s doesn’t even equal 1 day per period.

I have horrendous heavily periods - am currently being treated for anaemia due to it - and the first 2-3 days are horrific and I worry constantly about flooding whilst at work.

I don’t think Menstrual Leave will become a thing though because as other posters have said, it will just be another reason for employers to choose male applicants over female applicants.

As someone with (relatively) bad periods, I empathise - I do take annual leave here and there for particularly bad periods - but I really don't like the slippery slope of conflating women's professional capabilities with hormones and anatomy.

No

Excuses people will just take the piss - if one woman uses the leave very month it impacts on her colleagues who will then think oh well if she's doing it i will as well and then you have an entire department/company of women only working 75% of the month

It will also add to people thinking that women are just a PITA to hire if they have to accommodate this as well as maternity leave etc

I'm on the fence.

I no longer have them (post hysterectomy) but when I did they weren't that bad. Mild pain, responded to OTC analgesia, not to heavy. That was until I was diagnosed with a huge fibroid, when they became heavy and painful. (Strangely, the fibroid was picked up when I was being investigated for gastric problems....without going into detail I blame the fibroid for the gastric issues, I think it was pressing on a nerve or a muscle or something.) The fibroid was the reason for the hysterectomy.

The last period I had, I was in work and had such severe pain, I was almost in tears and had to go home sick. It was like someone was pointing and laughing and saying, ''So you're booked in for a hysterectomy, eh? Let's make your last period one to remember!'' It was the one and only time my work suffered as a result of them after nearly 40 years of having periods. But yeah, if they'd been like that all my life, I would have appreciated some sympathy from employers. But my other concern would be that some women, like myself before the fibroid have little problems but could use it as a reason to throw a sickie.

I have advanced endometriosis & I’d rather medical services didn’t discount painful, heavy periods as “well, periods are meant to be painful”.

It feels like a bandaid solution - debilitating periods are not a normal part of the female condition.

@jcurve
It feels like a bandaid solution - debilitating periods are not a normal part of the female condition.

As per your comment above, that's exactly what they are for many many women.

We are hugely disadvantaged by having periods and being expected to just cope or crack on.

I'd love to see more education and awareness around this issue.

It would be amazing to be part of a society where you could openly say at work that you were really suffering from this and required a day off or would wfh for a day or two without feeling shame or embarrassment or that people wouldnt think any the less of you.

For me it's the black moods that have affected me for most of my adult life. It is absolutely awful, some months more than others.

I really don't like the slippery slope of conflating women's professional capabilities with hormones and anatomy.

Me neither

Debilitating heavy periods are not normal. They nearly always indicate an underlying condition - endometriosis, adenomyosis, fibroids, etc.

I would rather this was acknowledged and treated for relief (where desired by the woman) using the variety of tools on offer rather than tolerated by medical professionals who expect women to accept a lower of quality of life, which includes being unable to work.

Even the NHS is happy to throw women under a bus. The NICE guidelines literally say if you’re anaemic and of child bearing age, they aren’t concerned because “periods” & give you iron tablets but an anaemic man of the same age is to be taken seriously and undergo investigations because it indicates Something Wrong.

Yes we should.

And other positive policies and approach to take into account the impact of disruptive/challenging hormones on female performance.

Medical professionals are very dismissive I think even the female nurse suggested I may have 'forgotten' what its like after being on contraception for years. After I recently sought help as I am having ongoing irregular bleeding which seems to more often than not. Just as well it was a telephone consultation my face would have said it all. .

I used to have bad periods, thankfully past that now. I usually was able to manage, but if I could not I would call in sick. I don’t see why I need special “menstrual leave”.

And no sanitary products should not be free, because nothing is.

It's sick leave regulations that need fixing. We don't need specific reasons

Anyone should be able to take leave when unwell without losing income or job. The whole Covid isolation mess shows the way work is at the expense of its employees health

I think it is that some women who have lighter periods, really don't understand the women who have worse periods.

I have done it myself in the past. I used to live with a woman, who would talk about her terribly painful periods.

I did think "what a drama queen" and "just get on with it", because up to that point my periods had been fine.

It was only later on when I experienced terrible periods myself, that I understood. Bleeding so heavily that I became anaemic. Terrible pains. Feeling weak and exhausted.

So I think that women need to be educated aswell, on the wide range of periods that women have.

People with light periods simply don't understand the terrible periods that other women can have.

So we all need to learn that there is a vast range