OK, so I might be a few weeks behind here, but I only came across this when an advert popped up on my Facebook timeline, and I looked in to it further.
There is one company in Bristol which is apparently offering period leave. Seriously? As if it hasn't been difficult enough for women to make steps towards workplace equality (and let's be honest, we're not there yet). If I had a business, I would be so reluctant to employ women who may take up to a week of every single month.
There are a number of comments on the article, one of which says period pain is not an illness and therefore, women off work because of it shouldn't be marked as off sick. I agree that there can be some cramping or pain with periods (I have to admit, I have never experienced period pain), but if it is getting to a point where a woman can't function day to day, then that is not normal.
I have heavy periods. They are horrible. As a ward nurse, I worked long hours and I never once called in sick because I was on my period. There was, and is, no option for me to slack off when menstruating. To do so would put my patients at risk. The only time I have ever called in sick was when I was a student nurse and I was miscarrying. I took two days off, had the weekend off anyway and was back in on the Monday morning, still bleeding but still at work.
All my colleagues are female. How would that work in practice? We would constantly be staff members down. And what about the idea that women who spend a lot of time together synchronise their periods. I've not personally checked, but what if that meant all the women at work who weren't post-menopausal were off work together? Should we just close the department for a week?
The woman who came up with this idea may have wanted to be seen as caring for her employees. However, she may just have damaged women's equality at work even further.
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