Should workplaces provide statutory sick pay for periods?

This year Spain introduced menstrual leave by law, joining Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, South Korea and Zambia. Here are my thoughts on why the UK should follow suit. Period.

That time of the month has come around again, and yes, I am talking about my period. For the many people who bleed once a month - or sometimes more regularly for those who, like me, are destined to wander the earth in search of a regular cycle - periods are a major source of worry and discomfort. Both physically and mentally, menstruation can take a huge toll on our day to day lives. In fact, I had to slam the breaks on writing this to lie in complete darkness waiting for my relentless monthly migraine to subside.

I suffer with averagely bad period symptoms. Sometimes my cramps come suddenly, they weaken my knees and cause me to curl over until one lucky colleague finds me squatting on the floor breathing like I should be in the presence of a midwife. Other times the pain is low level and only occasional if anything - nothing a trusty paracetamol can’t fix and allow me to go about my day as usual. The most terrible of my symptoms are my headaches. There have been occasions they are so bad I throw up. I also suffer with severe low mood before and during my cycle. Aside from this, I know my hit and miss relationship with period pain and symptoms make me fortunate. There are many women who suffer severe pain every period. In a 2012 study on dysmenorrhea, that is, the medical term for painful periods, “menstrual pain was reported by 84.1% of women, with 43.1% reporting that pain occurred during every period”, TenderTide reports.

A few months ago, there was a dinner party. Oysters were consumed and I witnessed my boyfriend and his two flatmates suffer the most horrifying case of food poisoning. I have no words to describe the terrors of that night. To this day I feel incredibly lucky - not eating those oysters is definitely in the running for the best decision I’ve made in my life to date. A few weeks after oystergate, I was at my boyfriend’s place again. I could hear from a room down the corridor the kind of groans you’d expect to hear in a war film and memories from that rancid night came flooding back. The next day I discovered the cause of the noise - his female flatmate. She was not cosied up watching ‘Dunkirk’ or ‘Quiet on the Western Front’ nor had she gulped down any oysters… that racket was period cramps.

I remember overhearing the conversation, my boyfriend being so shocked at the description of her period pain as worse than the night of food poisoning. Unbearable. To go to work with that case of food poisoning was out of the question, so if period pain is equally awful - if not worse - why are people expected to soldier on through a day suffering menstrual cramps? Unfortunately for many jobs, employees must “take sick leave if they need time off work for menstrual pain. But as Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is only paid on the fourth consecutive day of absence, shorter periods of absence will be unpaid” law firm, Clyde and Co said.

In what was praised a “historic day of progress for feminist rights” (Irene Montero, Spain’s Equality Minister), Spain became the first European country to introduce paid menstrual leave for 3 days. This is not the first time Europe has grappled with the idea of such a policy, however. In 2016, Italy proposed essentially the same bill, but it made no progression in two years, causing the proposal to fail in 2018 once the parliamentary term ran out.

There has been much debate in the proceeding years whether the passing of this law is liberating, a weight off the shoulders of those suffering with periods, or does it cause further stigma around women’s bodies, making them subject to discrimination. There has also been conversations questioning whether it is “tenable for the government to fund [paid menstrual leave]” in the UK - Gina Broadhurst, an independent business owner who suffered terrible periods told The Telegraph in June. She caveats that whilst potentially financially dangerous for small businesses, “larger employers could be better placed to introduce their own policies, as they are increasingly doing for menopause”. That is, if businesses pay directly from their own pocket to fund their employees’ absences. I see both sides of the coin here. The livelihood of businesses is important for the economy, and small businesses thriving is particularly important to communities and the market. But so are the lives of those suffering with period pain, and there is a mutual relationship between these factors: gynaecologist, Dr Susanna Unsworth, comments that “menstruation affects everybody differently and for some their period can come with severe physical and mental symptoms. Not being able to take time off due to discomfort or having to lie to an employer can create stress and anxiety which can cause health to deteriorate further.” In fact, having time off could be more beneficial for employers, allowing their workers to be most productive when returning to work, having fully rested and recovered from the aftermath of a bad cycle. What’s more, jobs that require physical presence, those in the hospitality or retail industries for example, often require employees to be on their feet all day. Common symptoms such as headaches, nausea and fatigue - not to mention the unavoidable self-consciousness that comes with having a heavy flow and rushing around throughout an 8-hour shift - undoubtably decreases one’s ability to work as effectively. Another vital issue to address is the stigma surrounding periods that make discussing the reality of experiencing them difficult (if not unthinkable) for sufferers, especially in the workplace. There have been multiple case studies of women who have felt that pain due to menstruation has not, or would not, be taken seriously by colleagues, management, and even doctors. One woman who tried to get to the bottom of why her periods were so painful was met with indifference from her GP, who palmed her off with over-the-counter medications that were not strong enough.

Considering this problem affects half the population every single month, surely it is something that warrants greater urgency in policy? I am a firm believer that ‘women’s rights’ embody the choices of every woman as an individual. When it comes to menstruation, anyone suffering with a period that renders working as usual more difficult if not unbearable, should have the freedom of choice - to choose if they need to take that time off work without the worry they may lose their job, or a day’s pay or the respect of their colleagues.