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.

I work in a male dominant industry and I would hate for this to be a barrier between me and my male colleagues.
I know I suffer with pmt and get period pains.

@LittleGungHo

I work in a male dominant industry and I would hate for this to be a barrier between me and my male colleagues. I know I suffer with pmt and get period pains.

Why is your industry male dominated?

Weirdly I was thinking about this yesterday, how women are at a general disadvantage at work and in general life because of hormones. I get hormonal migraines, not every month, but still every few. Even if I don't, I still feel exhausted in the run up to my period, my anxiety really ramps up and I also get a good few days of an impending doom feeling.

3 days per year wouldn't be much use! I'd need more like 3 days per month.

Like PPs have said what we need is more understanding, and better diagnosis and treatment for menstrual issues. And of course removing the embarrassment of seeing the Dr about them. My periods are much better now I don't have the accompanying migraines thanks to medication. The ppmd has lessened thanks to anti depressants. Now I just need to see the dr about how heavy they are.

I'm on the fence with this. If women are suffering so badly they need more support from their GP to manage it.

I agree that employers would use it as an excuse not to employ women.

For those who have problematic periods then 3 days a year would be pointless. They would use them in the first cycle.

What we need is better medical support for those who are suffering rather than just staying home and making employment chances harder for women

God no. How will we ever get equality in the work place if employers need to give women more time off because they have periods.

Op, if you’re weak and in a lot of pain and normal pain killers don’t fix it then you need to see your doctor.

@Pumperthepumper

The only reason this can’t happen is because men would kick up such a fuss that they weren’t getting ‘equality’.

They could say that about maternity leave too as it something only women can have.

@AuntyPasta

No.

I think that doctors should stop being dismissive about period pain and excess bleeding. There’s no reason for girls and women to suffer through it. There are solutions out there.

Yes.

I hear you! I’ve been working from home for 4 months and I’m finding things so much easier to manage. I was recently diagnosed with adenomyosis which in someways was good as now I know what I deal with is not normal. I really would encourage you to go to the doctors

I can see articles online saying that in 2017 , Italy was planning to be the first country in Europe to have menstrual leave. That it was proposing a bill to pass in Government to let women take three days of menstrual leave per month.

I can't see online anywhere if the bill was passed or not
Does anyone see it?

BashfulClam they already do.

No, but I think those who are severely affected should be able to use sick leave for it. It seems unnecessary to have a specific type of leave, with a set number of days. Many women will never need leave for this, a minority might need it everything single month.

I think something like endometriosis is /should be covered by normal sick leave.

I'll be honest and say most of the time, in most jobs it should be possible to work through a period. If there are other issues that make periods more difficult thats what sick leave should cover. Without having to flag that its 'womens issue'

Id rather that stupid index where you can only have a couple of bouts of sick leave before HR pulls you in, had a woman setting. (Bradford?)

I has horrendous periods as a teenager. I missed a day and a half of school for every period. That was with back to back paracetamol and ibuprofen. I had a period during my GCSEs and I remember being totally zoned out on painkillers. Days off don’t solve anything. Addressing it as a medical issue does.

Stay silent women. Men do not have do observe this, just like the sweats of the menopause etc. we have no voice.

So it is is far easier for men to outdo a menopausal woman anyway.

OMG.

I don’t think dedicated menstrual leave is needed. I do think periods - and many women’s health issues - should be taken more seriously. And I’d like to see a more supportive sick leave culture. So a) if a woman suffers during menstruation she should be able to seek medical action and b) she should be able to take sick leave if genuinely unable to work on a given day.

More flexible working that allowed badly-affected women to work from home those days (assuming the job can be done remotely) does seem like a good idea.

If women are too sick to work. For whatever reason they already can take sick leave. There is no discrimination there.

And the overwhelming majority of women, do not need time off work regularly for their periods. Nor do school girls need time of school.

Yes a minority suffer but this can be covered in their normal sick leave.

3 days a year isn’t much ch though is it?

@Bluntness100 it is not true, and dismissive to say if you are suffering with your period that you need to see a doctor.

Just having a period is hard work. Gushing blood for 3-7 days every month is tiring and painful for many women.

I did actually get a check at my doctor and everything is fine. My friend has terribly painful periods, she got her reproductive system checked , and everything is fine aswell.

Just having a period is hard work

@Waxonwaxoff0

No.

I don't have periods, I choose to take the mini pill to stop them. So I wouldn't need to take menstrual leave. I'd be pretty annoyed at having to pick up the slack if other people were having a couple of days off every month.

Mini pill doesn't work to stop them for everyone.

It's no so much an active choice but a lucky side effect of the drug for some.

No.

It would actually make it harder for women to get a job and succeed in the workplace as employers will be more likely to discriminate in favour of men who won’t require this type of leave as they don’t menstruate.

If your periods are so debilitating that you require time off work you really need to see your GP.

No. Why on earth would any business every hire a woman if they were at risk of having to give them paid days off every month in addition to normal levels of leave when they could hire a man for the same cost

Some small business arent that welcoming to women who might just might get up 't duff and all that brings sad to say, seen it 'tho not a firm that I ran.

Course what about those women who arent that badely affected might they want the same number of days off?.

Yes and I do know that some are much worse affected than others!