Women at work suffer silently every month – we deserve paid ‘period leave’
Time off work is a natural solution here: employees could register confidentially with HR as someone who suffers with bad period pain and get a pre-agreed number of sick days per year purely for their condition, argues Gemma Abbott
A report published today has found that over two-thirds of women in the UK have had bad experiences at work because of their period. More than half said they have had to miss work because of symptoms associated with their period.
This doesn’t feel like news to me at all. It’s just attaching concrete, numerical evidence to facts most women already know: having your period when you’re at work is an absolute pain (for many, quite literally).
I’m certain that if you stopped 100 women in the street, 99 of them would have an “awkward” period story from their workplace. And if it’s not their own, then they would be able to tell one about a friend. I’ve heard some horrifically embarrassing stories in my time.
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