A company in Bristol is preparing to become the first in Britain to allow female employees menstrual leave.
The time off would not be regarded as sick leave and employees would be expected to make it up, but it would allow them to stay at home if they were suffering discomfort without having to make excuses or produce a sick note.
Coexist, which runs a large community and arts centre in Stokes Croft, employs 25 staff, only seven of whom are men. It is hosting a seminar on March 15 to discuss the idea with other employers and organisations. After the seminar, Coexist’s staff will be asked how they want the policy to operate.
Bex Baxter, Coexist’s director, said that it would allow women to take advantage of their natural cycles rather than having to fight against them. She said: “During your period is winter but afterwards is spring when you have the energy of three women if you have only taken time out when you are menstruating.”
Periods are still considered a taboo subject by many employers, despite affecting half the adult population, and women can feel embarrassed to admit that they are in pain.
Advertisement
Ms Baxter, 40, said: “I have seen women at work who are bent over double because of the pain caused by their periods. Despite this, they feel they cannot go home because they do not class themselves as unwell.
“We want a policy which recognises and allows women to take time for their body’s natural cycle without putting this under the label of ‘illness’. ”
Ms Baxter says she also suffers from painful cramps every month. She said: "My team here have always been very generous and I’ve been able to take time off when I’ve needed it, but always put it back in again. But until now there haven’t been any formal guidelines.
“For too long there’s been a taboo surrounding periods — I have had women staff tell me they’re ashamed to admit they’re in pain.
“I want us to break down that shame and replace the negativity with positivity.
Advertisement
“If it were men who had periods then this policy would have been brought in sooner.”
Menstrual leave was first tried in Japan in 1947. Countries including South Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia have laws allowing women time off work when they have their period.
The sportswear manufacturer Nike is thought to be the only global company officially to include menstrual leave as part of its code of conduct.
The seminar this month will be called Pioneering Period Policy: Valuing Natural Cycles in the Workplace. Ms Baxter is hoping that representatives of Bristol city council and the university will attend and debate the issues. Employers already booked in include the TreeSisters, a tree-planting collective, and the festival organisers Tribe of Doris.
Alexandra Pope, the seminar leader, believes that “cycle awareness” helps both men and women to become more productive. She said: “In the past any proposal to allow women to have time off at menstruation has been derided by men and women alike.
Advertisement
“The purpose of this policy initiative is to create a positive approach to menstruation and the menstrual cycle that empowers women and men and supports the effectiveness and wellbeing of the organisation. To restore the menstrual cycle as the asset it is.”