Women at work suffer silently every month – we deserve paid ‘period leave’

A report published today has found that over two-thirds of women in the UK have had bad experiences at work because of their period. More than half said they have had to miss work because of symptoms associated with their period.

This doesn’t feel like news to me at all. It’s just attaching concrete, numerical evidence to facts most women already know: having your period when you’re at work is an absolute pain (for many, quite literally).

I’m certain that if you stopped 100 women in the street, 99 of them would have an “awkward” period story from their workplace. And if it’s not their own, then they would be able to tell one about a friend. I’ve heard some horrifically embarrassing stories in my time.

Over the course of my own menstruating life, I can count numerous occasions when I’ve been “caught by surprise” while at work. By “caught by surprise” (because there’s a massive amount of abstract, taboo-driven language used around the subject of periods), I mean that my period started unexpectedly and I had no period products to hand to deal with it.

In that situation, locked in a cubicle on their own, women often only have one option. I did. It’s called toilet roll. And toilet paper manufacturers really don’t see themselves as solution providers to this problem (nor should they) – which means, consequently, toilet paper is very poor at securely retaining menstrual blood.

This leads to (insert hand-raised emoji) either an embarrassing leak on the back of a pale grey dress (pointed out to me by a kind, female colleague while I was making a cup of coffee), or hyperawareness about a potential leak for the rest of the day.

Being caught short or leaking at work is probably at one end of the spectrum when it comes to problems with having your period in the workplace. At the other is what some women might describe as “debilitating” monthly pain – research shows period pain can be as “bad as having a heart attack”.

This is where solutions are less easy for employers. Time off work is a natural solution here: what if employees could register confidentially with HR as someone who suffers from bad period pain and are given a pre-agreed number of sick days per year purely for their condition? The financial impact, or productivity – especially for a small business – of paid period leave would be an understandable concern. But it wouldn’t be a choice made by every woman. Pain levels vary. And what’s the alternative?

Let’s not also forget women going through the menopause and peri-menopause – a time when a woman’s regular cycle can go completely haywire. Couple that with experiencing a huge range of additional (often uncontrollable) symptoms and you’ve got the reason why our UK workforce is haemorrhaging women over 50.

Full disclosure: I know an unusual amount about this topic. Not only because I’m a woman, but I also work for a company in the workplace washroom industry, which supplies free-vend machines and period products to workplaces. I have conversations about periods with businesses of varying sizes on a daily basis. And, truth be told, I haven’t yet come across one organisation that is dealing with periods in the workplace well.

The main issues I come across are often cost-driven. Pre-agreeing time off is tricky. If you have a member of a team taking several sick days on a regular, monthly basis, it begins to have an impact on productivity and, in many cases, morale among other staff.

Another solution, and one that is increasingly being used by businesses, is the provision of free period products. Again, there is a cost impact. But for many organisations, the cost-benefit of this option is net positive. It’s seen as cultivating inclusion, increasing employee wellbeing and, depending on the period product provided, it can also help companies meet certain sustainability targets.

If 60 per cent of women are uncomfortable discussing periods with their line manager or colleagues, the chances are they will appreciate free period products, even if they’ve never actually said so.

We are, without a doubt, getting better at discussing all aspects of the female cycle – periods, peri-menopause and the menopause. That’s in large part down to a small number of celebrity influencers who have taken up the baton on all our behalfs. But it’s a conversation that needs to be had far more openly in the workplace.

I love the idea of businesses giving employees the opportunity to set up working groups on the topic – an inclusive and open forum for staff to discuss issues and to bring up potential solutions.

In my opinion, talking more frequently and, yes, more loudly about periods is the only logical way we can make them less of a taboo – and, by default, help women to feel more comfortable in their place of work.