While more employers are responding to the clamour for paid time off, other detractors remain sceptical.
Jessie, a 28-year-old New York City editor, collapsed at work three months into her new position in early 2020. They were aware that their period would most likely begin that day, and that they would most likely be in agony, but they needed to be at work to produce a video — especially because their team was short-staffed.
They made the decision not to call in ill. They claim, "I just don't believe [a period] counts as a disease."
So, when Jessie started experiencing discomfort in their abdomen and lower back, they took ibuprofen and tried to return to work. However, after 15 minutes, their bodies appeared to be heavy.
"I was blacking out," Jessie explains. "Everything was hazy, and I couldn't answer properly." They were assisted to a couch, where they remained in the foetal position until a health-and-safety official walked by and summoned an ambulance to transport them to the hospital.
Jessie didn't want or need an ambulance; all they wanted to do was go home and rest. They claim that if Jessie had an employer-sponsored benefit, she would be more comfortable taking time off or working from home when she is in discomfort.
Employees at certain organisations do have access to this perk, which is known as'menstrual leave.' It gives employees who are having uncomfortable menstruation or menopausal symptoms the option of working from home and taking a predetermined number of paid vacation days each year, in addition to the nationally mandated paid time off.
For at least a century, menstrual leave has existed in various forms across the world: the Soviet Union implemented a national policy in 1922, Japan in 1947, and Indonesia in 1948. However, it is still uncommon in many large global economies, including Jessie's home country of the United States. However, as more and more companies around the world begin to implement the benefit, a movement in support of it is growing.
Women, transgender, and non-binary workers who menstruate stand to benefit if the policy is widely adopted: they will have direct access to rest when they need it most, will be happier and more productive at work as a result, and will find it easier to stay in the workforce. Yet, since menstrual leave has entered the global zeitgeist.