Paid Menstrual Leave: Progressive or Taboo?

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Yes, you read it right, paid menstrual leave is actually a thing. In fact, compensation for time off due to “that time of the month” is actually quite popular.  It’s been around for many decades in places like China, Japan, Taiwan and Indonesia. A British company is set to create a period policy that allows women in suffering to take time off work during their monthly cycle. This policy is said to believe to create a happier and more productive work environment. Although there has been debates on whether giving time off for the women makes them unproductive. But, Bex Baxter, the company director, argued that “immediately after a period is a time when women are actually three times as productive as usual.”

The idea seems easy and well formatted but there has been some “taboo” about taking the time off. The women staff have been said that they are ashamed to admit they are in pain. In fact, Although they have the “period policy” in China, many of the Chinese woman do not take the paid menstrual leave as it is believed to be a sign of weakness if you participate in it. Plus there’s also the thought of making the company lose money which makes the workers hesitant to take the leave. Gracie Romero, senior at Westside High School, argued, “I believe people should think about their health first before anything else, such as work, because even though work is very important, what will happen if you injure yourself further than what you already are because in the long run, the company is just gonna think about itself and not so much on you.” There’s many other controversial’s arguing for the period policy but with that, there’s always a counter argument to attack it. Alex Emami, senior at Westside High School, argued against Gracie claiming, “Many people go to work on the daily, sick and injured, and still manage to put in effort just as anyone else can.”

As one can see, just as any controversial topic, there are always varying opinions on such matters. Many questions are still up for debate regarding this issue since it is relatively new. Things such as the overall opinion in the mater or how this could effect future legislation under similar debate are just to name a few. More then ever, progressive laws have been being approved so perhaps it’s not too radical of an idea to mediate on. Only time will tell.