Issue 61: The never ending saga of periods leave
And why it is a structural debate on our workplaces
Aunt Flo came visiting yesterday morning. She and I are chums. Actually, no.
When I was in school (a girls-only school), it was taboo to talk about periods. We had innovative names to discuss it, ‘chum’ being one of them. But periods can hardly be any woman’s chum, for it is messy, painful and dispiriting in equal parts.
I don’t remember how I went through school without taking an off for my periods, but there it was. Sub-consciously, the key was always to hide it and move on. And that led to strong conditioning that periods pain is something to hide and live with.
One sunny morning a few years back, a male colleague asked me why I looked so tired and worn out, and I said, “You know, I have no clue. But my thighs have been aching like crazy since morning.” And he said, “Perhaps, it’s that time of the month.” It was, indeed. I had forgotten. What I haven’t forgotten to date is that simple act of compassion, a normal conversation about my menstrual pain like how one would ask about a fall or a cold.
Periods leave are back in discussion and how. The topic rears its head every few months, when someone decides to opine on it. Someone preferably famous.
Public opinion ranges from “This will lead to lesser women being hired at the workplace” to “This is the change we need, because for almost 50% of menstruating women, periods pain is recurring and unbearable” club.
As for me, firstly, I am glad that we are talking periods, after years of shoving it under the proverbial carpet.
Secondly, and more importantly, we are talking about the pain of periods and how the pain takes a toll on the woman’s body. This helps in building a case for why different people need different leaves.
Thirdly, I believe that we need to be futuristic with how we think not just about the workforce, but also about women at the workforce. Much has been spoken about remote working, work-life balance etc. and now is the time to elevate the conversation to re-designing our structures and spaces to cater to women employees, 50% of the world’s population, and in a more equal future world, 50% of our workplaces too.
However, as is with everything innovative and first-time, there are obvious cons at play here.
If this were to become law, we run the risk of smaller companies deciding not to hire women, because the toll is too much. Also, are we all really comfortable with data about our periods leave lying around ripe for analytics and “insights”?
Unlimited medical leaves for all employees is a way out, a fair way out if you may. But, without the right intent to execute, this might fall flat. And, in inherently trust-deficit societies, no party walks away happy.
Pros and cons aside, I want to leave you all with one thought, a snippet of information for comparison.
Do you know that Germany was the first country to introduce provisions around maternity way back in 1878, limited to a 3-week prohibition on working?
Look at where we have come from there today, with many countries in the world providing at least 3 months of paid maternity leave?
Back in 1878, people must have guffawed at the suggestion of leave for childbirth. People must have said, “Don’t hire women. Problem solved.”
That’s always the initial reaction to what may seem a revolutionary policy, but in hindsight is a bare minimum necessity.
Mayhaps, someday, centuries down the line, someone will type away about how periods leave, a bare minimum necessity, was hotly debated in the distant past that was the 2020s.
And mayhaps, that day, the workplace and our public spaces would be inhabited and inhabitable equally by both men and women.
P. S. Views strictly personal. None of the events mentioned in this post refer to the organisation that I am currently associated with.