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Unions across Australia are advocating for workplaces to offer women paid time off while menstruating, or suffering symptoms of menopause.
Though the monthly cycle is to be expected, for many those days of menstruating are an ordeal that can leave you feeling mentally and physically drained. From navigating cramps to grappling with a heavy flow that can leave you rushing to the bathroom every few minutes to simply check you haven’t bled through, being in the workplace while menstruating serves only to compound stress and emotional fatigue. It makes the news that the Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) is leading the charge in a campaign to see women granted paid menstrual and menopause leave an exciting one. As many women can attest, current leave entitlements fail to recognise the reality of our health experiences and as the AWU suggests, the time is now for change.
In partnership with Maurice Blackburn, the AWU is pushing for workplace legislation to acknowledge that women make up half the population and, as a result, menstrual and menopausal leave are fundamental working rights we should all be entitled to.
The reality is that for many women, battling period pain or menopausal symptoms is something we feel the need to hide. Given the stigma that continues to surround such topics – particularly when it comes to professional environments like the workplace – many are forced to call in sick, often fearing the repercussions that could come from their bosses should they talk about their menstrual cycle. Rather than ask for flexible work arrangements or a concession, many women take pain killers to combat the issue. And as the AWU notes, this issue is particularly poignant in blue-collar jobs where menstrual issues aren’t on their employer’s radar.
As Stacey Schinnerl, AWU Queensland Branch Secretary, suggests, leave entitlements need to reflect the health experiences specific to women. “Some women suffer throughout their entire working lives. From the age they begin menstruating, to pregnancy, complications can arise in conceiving, carrying and post-natal issues, then peri-menopause symptoms arrive, followed by menopause,” said Schinnerl.
Schinnerl added, “With this in mind, 10 days leave per year, and the current workplace flexibility arrangements, are insufficient in recognising the health concerns women face, in contrast to men, who receive the same entitlements but experience none of those health hurdles.”
Earlier this year, menstrual and menopause leave was approved in Spain, with women entitled to access at least three days a month. Entitlements are also afforded to women in Japan, South Korea, China and Taiwan.
“We need to look at this from a broader health issue as well,” said Schinnerl. “The quicker women deplete their current sick leave quota, the more likely women will feel compelled to attend the workplace when suffering other illnesses. It’s in no one’s interest to come into work sick, just because they’ve used their sick days due to an unavoidable agony.”
As Schinnerl notes, it’s a conversation that needs to be had in workplaces around the country, and one that needs to engage men for greater understanding to prevail. “It’s something that is inherently a guarded and difficult conversation for men to engage in. But, moreover, we are going to have to deal with the battle around men saying, ‘well, what do I get?’ What men get is an uninterrupted experience, while women can get a very traumatic and painful experience every single month for every single year of their reproductive lives,” said Schinnerl.
“If women could choose, we would not experience this. We would like to opt out but that’s not our reality. It’s important to bring the stigma out of it, bring the heat out of it, and talk about it as a public health issue, which it is.”
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