As a working woman in Australia I’m insulted by this crazy plan

A CALL for women to be given 12 days a year of period leave is insulting, backward, and will result in more discrimination, not less, writes Kylie Lang.

Yep, having a period can be crap, but few women expect special treatment as a result. (Pic: Supplied)

WHAT an excellent idea! Give women with period pain up to 12 days of annual paid leave.

Grab the Mersyndol, switch on Ellen and pour me a cuppa.

While we’re at it, with a nod to gender equality, why not extend the offer to men who are struck down with man flu? Or who suffer emotional distress from coping with their menstrually-challenged partners?

Surely, the Victorian Women’s Trust is joking in its advocacy of menstrual leave.

No, the philanthropic body — named after the state of Victoria and not the era when women, as Charlotte Bronte wrote in 1847, were expected by their “more privileged fellow-creatures” to “confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings” — is serious.

In a survey of 3400 women asked how best to juggle work and strong pain, the trust found most said working from home would be beneficial.

Fair enough — and the same flexibility should be offered to men who feel unable to come to work through physiological discomfort.

But that’s not all. The menstrual policy that trust CEO Mary Crooks says should be adopted by every Australian organisation stipulates “the opportunity to stay in the workplace under circumstances which encourage the comfort of the employee — for example, resting in a quiet area”.

It advocates “taking a day’s paid leave, where employees are entitled to a maximum of 12 paid days per calendar year (pro-rata, non-cumulative) in the event of inability to perform work duties because of menstruation”.

We need period leave like we need man flu leave: not at all. (Pic: Supplied)

A medical certificate is not required.

The policy doesn’t discriminate against women who are no longer menstruating, incidentally, because it extends to menopause and its associated symptoms. Germaine Greer, eat your heart out.

The only people being discriminated against here are men, who never have or ever will menstruate.

It seems ironic then that the trust’s mission statement is to achieve “full gender equality: a world where women and girls take up all of life’s opportunities with respect, safety and dignity”.

While the charity has done some important work since its inception in 1985, through grants and research, this latest effort cannot possibly advance the cause.

All it will do is reinforce unhelpful stereotypes and create further division.

Plenty of people manage to combine work with ailments, from migraines to arthritis, depression to back pain. They seek medical or naturopathic help and press on.

True, a small percentage of women suffer greatly at that “time of the month”, but that’s what sick leave is for.

Gynaecologist Kate Stern says really bad pain, or primary dysmenorrhoea that affects concentration, is rare and can usually be treated.

She also says it is “highly unlikely that any woman would claim the 12 days”, a claim backed by the trust.

I don’t buy that, and neither will employers.

Workers abuse standard sick leave on a regular basis — Australians are famous for “chucking a sickie” — costing the nation dearly in lost productivity.

What has been proven to boost productivity is gender equality.

The World Economic Forum has found a decisive link between a country’s competitiveness and how it educates and uses its female talent. Making the most efficient use of a nation’s human capital and reducing gender inequality enhances economic growth.

Australia is still a long way from achieving parity for women in the workplace.

Despite legislation, women still earn at least 16 per cent less than men for doing the same job, and there are a comparatively minuscule number of women in top-tier management, politics and other areas of senior policy making.

Women also lose out when it comes to superannuation and are more likely than men to spend their later years in poverty.

A menstrual policy won’t help. Japan has had one since 1948 yet still has one of the most under-utilised female populations in the world. Additionally, its gender pay gap is 21 per cent.

In Australia, a menstrual policy will only prove a disincentive to hiring women, and there are already enough of those, including maternity leave and longer breaks from the fulltime workforce to raise children.

Half of all working women will experience discrimination during pregnancy, paid parental leave or upon their return to work, according to the Australian Human Rights Commission.

The Victorian Women’s Trust claims its policy supports women to “self-care” while not “penalising” them by depleting their sick leave.

It also “seeks to remove the stigma and taboo surrounding menstruation and menopause”.

Stigma? Taboo? As a working woman in modern Australia, I am offended by the suggestion that the physiological process which helps a female prepare for pregnancy (or post-reproductive years) could be considered a source of shame.

It’s part of life.

Most women I know just get on with it, period.