The company has introduced a “period policy” to make things a bit easier on women during what can be a hard time of month.
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A company in Bristol has introduced a “period policy” in an effort to give women more flexibility and create a happier and healthier working environment.
Bex Baxter, one of the firm’s directors told the Bristol Post that as she was managing the firm, she has seen some of her female staff members going through an excruciating pain whenever they’re having a awful period.
“Despite this, they feel they can not go home because they do not class themselves as unwell”. But – and I checked this with top employment lawyer Danielle Ayres of Gorvins solicitors – suffering bad menstrual pain should, as she points out, “already be accommodated by company’s sickness policy, as would be the case with migraine”.
“This is not about employees taking more time off but working more flexibly and efficiently around their menstrual cycle and encouraging a work-life balance”, she continued.
Coexist announced that its female staffers will now be allowed to take time off when they’re menstruating – and it won’t be considered a sick day.
“Actually it is about synchronising work with the natural cycles of the body”. Called the Pioneering Period Policy, it aims to “utilize the natural cycles of men and women”.
According to International Business Times, “90 percent of women experience pain and discomfort during their period”, and “14 percent of women report not being able to go to work due to pain”.
Not only does Coexist want the formal guidelines to allow women to take time off without labeling it as an illness, it also hopes to increase workplace productivity. “If you work with your natural rhythms, your creativity and intelligence is more fulfilled”, she says. “The menstrual cycle is not actually a sickness, it’s not a problem, but it’s been rendered that for so long”. The same goes, of course, for people giving their colleagues the period “play-by-play”-that’s an awesome, de-stigmatizing idea in theory, but even if you can’t lose your job for talking openly about the crime scene in your trousers, you could still face serious backlash from coworkers”.
As part of the planned policy, staff will be encouraged to talk more openly about their periods, seeking to synchronise their workload with their bodies.
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All that official period leave will do is ensure these women can tell their employers the truth.
