Menstrual Leave: Policy Addressing Menstruation at Workplace

Menstruation is an integral part not only of a woman’s life but of the very existence of the human race. At some point of time/places it has been seen with reverence and at other points it has been treated as something embarrassing, unclean and unholy. But, the debates and discussions around menstruation never ceased to exist. One of the most recent and long-standing debates around menstruation is about ‘menstrual leave’. Menstrual leave is an employment policy that gives women the option to take paid or unpaid leave from employment, if unable to go to work because of menstrual cycle-related symptoms.

The question being debated is that whether women employees should be given the option of taking paid or unpaid leave while she is menstruating and is unable to go to the workplace.

What is the Need for Menstrual Leave?

The first question that forms the base of all discussions around menstrual leave is the very need for menstrual leave. Are women unable to work during their periods? No! But, some women face conditions like severe pain, cramps, bloating and fatigue during their periods. Due to the condition called dysmenorrhea, about 20% of women experience problems sufficient to disrupt their daily life. In some women, the symptoms can be very severe while a majority of women can go on with their daily life despite menstruation.

Conditions like Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) too makes menstruation a painful experience for some women. Though the overall percentage of women suffering from these severe conditions is low, the impact on those women is very real.

So, menstrual leave might not be a necessity for all women but some of them do need menstrual leave.

Arguments Against Granting Menstrual Leave

• A good percentage of people are of the view that menstrual leave will lead to the gendering of the workplace thus pushing back all the efforts women have made to date to prove themselves as equally capable as their male counterparts.
• Many believe that employers will be discouraged to employ females if it is mandated to grant them extra leave. When there comes a choice between a male and a female candidate, the male candidate will become the obvious choice for the employer.
• Those who argue against menstrual leave are of the view that not all women need menstrual leave. If a woman has a condition that makes it tough for her to go to the workplace during her periods, she can take a medical leave granted to all the employees.
• Some argue that menstrual leave will be misused by those women who do not actually need the leave. This will be discrimination towards their male counterparts, especially if the menstrual leave is paid.

Justifications in Favor of Providing Menstrual Leave

• Those who see menstrual leave as a right of women employee, argues that workplaces should be designed for optimum productivity and comfort of the diverse human bodies. The biological diversities of different genders should not be ignored in the quest of forming one-size-fits-all rules.
• Some argue that menstrual leave is not about discrimination towards anyone. It is about accepting the biological differences and adopting them in the work culture. Ignoring the obvious differences between different genders cannot be seen as promoting equality.
• Some countries like Indonesia and Japan are providing menstrual leave for quite a long time. These countries have not reported any adverse impact on the percentage of women workforce or overall productivity of the organizations.

There are strong logical debates both in for and against the idea of menstrual leave. Some may also label it as regressive. However more and more countries are adopting the policy of providing menstrual leave in order to make the workplace more welcoming to women. The pace obviously is slow as the discussion around menstrual leave is going on since the 19th century.