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.

And also how we are influenced by society to be not caring towards period pain. I think that I thought abot my flatmate "just get on with it",

Because I had been told to "just get on with it", to hide my period, and to not complain, by society.

We have been taught to hide it, get on with it, never complain.

It is so important to talk about menstruation

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

For the 15 months I was off the mini pill whilst ttc ds2 I frequently flooded. I had to carry a full change of clothes to work and on many occasions could feel the blood dripping down my legs when I still had a ten minute walk to get to a toilet in order to change and clean up.
I was scared to cough or sneeze. I would put a black facecloth on whatever seat I was sitting on and our bedsheets were covered in blood more times than I'd like to count. I was also very anaemic.

I STILL do not think that specific menstruation leave would be beneficial to women in the workplace. It will increase sexist hiring decisions.

Women's healthcare however needs a vast overhaul.

@WhyIsItSoHardToPickAUsername thanks for sharing that. Yes I certainly don't know all the answers. Menstrual leave is one option. But what is more important is - women having a good discussion about menstruation. We have all gone through it. Every woman's thoughts are important. And women talking about it together is important

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

I think some women with worse periods don’t appreciate just how debilitating non menstrual conditions can be! I do not wish to be characterised by my sexy and biology in the work place

@Aridane we are already characterised by our sex and biology in the workplace, with maternity leave. Did you agree with that?

Maternity leave definitely helped a lot of women.

I had been going to say reproductive rights part (as per legislation) but did because I thought I would get snippy responses about mesnsteiatuon
Being part of reproduction blah
Blah
Blah

Personally i think it would just add to a woman's disadvantage in the workplace. Age is already a huge factor for us but not men, who's going to want to employ someone that takes longer off work? They could introduce a special type of sick note to allow for it?

So for
Clarity @Sarahpaula, I disagree fundamental with the premise
In your opening post

No, but I think we need a better approach to sick leave. Things like the first three days unpaid and use of the Bradford Factor just encourage people to work when they really aren't well enough to.

Not so long ago one of the very senior people in our organisation did a group wide blog post about the menopause, the effect it can have on your professional life and the need for this to be recognised and supported and I was so heartened to see it I cried.

It's a misrepresentation if anyone suggests I said that "heavy periods can always be prevented."

I listed some modifiable risk factors based on reliable sources, for those who don't want to take a "Woe is Me" attitude & instead want to try to avoid the problems many report here. I purposely used the word "sometimes" about what the information meant.

I had light but very painful (incapacitating without medication) periods, btw. I lack experience with heavy flow, but I know what it's like to reduced to an agonised ball. All of then published advice on risk factors and prognosis didn't work for me, but thankfully mefenamic acid did work (at double dose, mind). And having children -- that saved me, too. It's nice to know things can get better.

@imissthesouth yes it would be interesting to see how it would work in practice.

Some major companies have introduced menstrual leave in the last few years, so I will be following them to see how it is working.

I disagree that menstrual leave will stop companies from hiring women. I actually think that menstrul leave would be good for companies, as women will prefer to work for them.

If I am going to apply for a job, and one offers menstrual leave , and the other doesn't - I will apply for the one that offers menstrual leave, as I will feel more respected there.

So, menstrual leave could attract and retain good female candidates

Honestly @Aridane please can you back up your theory that women with bad periods seem to have no idea about how debilitating non menstrual conditions can be? Is this just your feelings on the matter or is there any proof of this? What does this even mean?

Women are already characterised by their reproductive system as they have maternity leave and pregnancy rights

Women with terrible periods have no separate rights, gynaecological dysfunction is not a recognised disability or protected medical condition as such and probably never will be. It isn’t a disability but it is a medical condition the same as many other medical conditions that can’t all be cured, just managed and and treated. It can be genetic, it can be caused by endocrine dysfunction, it can cause neurological problems too, bowel and bladder dysfunction. It isn’t just bleeding from your vagina in many cases, some of these conditions can cause widespread permanent damage, infertility, surgical procedures. And ONLY women can suffer it.

This doesn’t mean I have no understanding or appreciation for someone suffering from Crohn’s disease or osteoporosis. No person asked to suffer from any affliction of any kind and struggle through life.

It’s not ok though that someone with a bowel or bone disorder may have more options in healthcare, the work place and general understanding than someone with a womb/hormone disorder though is it? This thread is proof - women telling other women that being fat having sex and drinking booze is cussing their health conditions!!

*causing

@lljkk
It's a misrepresentation if anyone suggests I said that "heavy periods can always be prevented."

You clearly misrepresented yourself! Don’t blame me for what you wrote that was very clearly blameful and finger pointing that if women were less fat and unhealthy they would be able to avoid a lot of the symptoms. If you think people like me have a woe is me attitude about being stuck with a load of bleeding tumours in my womb then it is absolutely you being a judgmental plank.

This was the same office where a different man complained that I had a box of pads in my drawer that he could see when I opened it and he thought it was unprofessional

What an arsehole.

I hope someone told him that flooding all over the carpet was even less professional.

The shit women have to put up with when they have gynae issues is absurd. Doctors need to understand how incredibly difficult dealing with extreme pain, flooding, mood swings etc is for some women and make sure they get all the treatment, help and support they need.

I was lucky, I never really had period pain or heavy periods and my menopause was trouble free, but I never realised my migraines had a hormonal connection until I was well into my 40s (I don't think it was really recognised until the 1990s or so). The sickness absence from migraines caused problems in a couple of jobs.

I think "menstrual leave" might be counter productive and make employers less likely to take women on, but I think sick leave due to menstrual problems should be disregarded when it comes to absence management.

This was the same office where a different man complained that I had a box of pads in my drawer that he could see when I opened it and he thought it was unprofessional

What's unprofessional about being prepared and able to manage an entirely normal happening so you can continue to work?

No. I’d like to see more flexible leave across the board. This would benefit all women badly affected by menstrual cycles or the menopause, parents, people with any caring responsibilities and so on.

Painful periods should be treated as a medical condition. I had horrendous periods when I was younger. I never missed work but I used to dope myself up on as many painkillers as I could safely manage and hope I wouldn’t leak on to my clothes. If I had the chance I would spend days curled up on the sofa with a hot water bottle feeling like death. I was occasionally sick with the pain. I did go to the doctors and was told nothing was wrong, this was all within the ‘normal’ range. I have suffered from severe anaemia on and off for 20 years with no investigation that has been attributed to my periods but that is apparently ‘normal’ too.

I had my first dc in my mid-twenties and after that my periods were so much better. They were still relatively heavy, although less so than before, but the pain was almost eliminated entirely. It seems as though there had indeed been nothing ‘wrong’, but I had still been in a great deal of pain every month.

Unsure if paid days off is the solution though, I would have been more than happy with adequate pain relief. I used to feel so jealous of friends who had three days light bleeding and no symptoms at all and I do think that much more research should be conducted into why some women suffer more than others and effective solutions should be sought. It’s been almost 20 years since I had an agonising period but I have never forgotten the pain and the feeling of helplessness that there was nothing really to do but ride it out.

I send you a hug @LuaDipa it is so hard.

What compounds it for me is, I have the heavy bleeding, and then I also have the terrible fear of leaving any blood anywhere.

We are meant to act like we don't ever bleed, don't talk about it, hide it.

The fear I have had about getting blood in some one else's house, a friend's toilet for example. I remember so many times - going to the toilet once, leaking blood on the floor and toilet, getting on my hands and knees with tissue on the floor, checking everywhere, going back into the sitting room, then getting up and going back to check because I was so worried about leaving blood anywhere. It is sad

Oh god no. Men hate us enough already. I’ve read so many comments online from men who claim they’d never hire us because we are whiney, bitchy, incompetent, will get pregnant and cost them money etc etc. It’s yet another stick to beat us with.

I never realised how many men hated us and what stereotypes they held until the Internet.

@OlympicProcrastinator maybe men should respect us more, for the vitally important part that we play in life continuing on Earth.

Every man came from a woman.

@Menora - I back it up by posts on this thread ! 🙄

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

I’ve worked in two countries that had menstrual leave allowances. Absolutely no one used them, because you’d probably get fired eventually.

@MangoFeverDream wow your experience is really interesting to me.

Can i ask you a few questions.

How did management/HR talk about it? Was it in your contract?

It is sad that women were too scared to use it.