The city of Saint-Ouen sets up menstrual leave for its municipal employees. A first in France that could be expanded?
This is a first that could pave the way. This Monday, March 27, 2023, the city of Saint-Ouen (Seine-Saint-Denis) officially brings menstrual leave into effect for its 1,200 municipal workers. This is a possibility of teleworking or taking two days off, without salary deduction, due to painful periods or endometriosis. A device for the time being unique in France, which follows in the footsteps of Spain which introduced such a possibility in its law last month. The time is not yet for generalization in France. Especially since on the side of the public authorities, a certain reluctance exists, just like on the side of certain feminist associations.
Since March 27, agents who wish to benefit from this device must go to an occupational doctor. The latter must then certify, by a certificate, the pain caused by the onset of menstruation or illness in the person. In this case, they will have the possibility of not working for up to two days thanks to the special leave of absence (ASA) system, of adjusting their schedules or of telecommuting. Naturally, the payment of the salary is maintained. The visit to the doctor will not be monthly: a single certificate will suffice. Ad vitam aeternam? The municipality did not specify.
His name is ambiguous. Menstrual leave is a work stoppage for women who experience incapacitating or even pathological pain during their period of menstruation. The Saint-Ouen experiment provides for an implementation “for all agents with endometriosis or painful periods that prevent them from performing their missions normally.”
In Spain, the law passed specifically provides that “a woman’s work stoppage in the event of incapacitating periods [or linked] to pathologies such as endometriosis” is “recognized as a special situation of temporary incapacity” for work. but does not generate salary deduction. The new Spanish measure does not define the maximum duration of menstrual leave leaving this task to a doctor.
Where menstrual leave is enshrined in legislation, the measure is presented as a way to improve the daily lives of women in the professional world and above all to reduce what can be seen as inequality: women with painful periods being either forced hold office despite suffering, or forced to give up days of pay because of sick leave. When, on the contrary, male employees do not suffer any such prejudice once a month.
French law does not provide for menstrual leave or other measures that could substitute for it. And for the time being, no bill should bring the subject into the hemicycle. However, the debates held in Spain in recent months have, it seems, paved the way for discussions in France. In the summer of 2022, the Minister responsible for equality between women and men, Isabelle Rome, had indicated to Médiapart that she wanted to launch “projects on women’s rights and their health” including menstrual leave. A few months earlier, several politicians – notably Yannick Jadot (EELV), Anne Hidalgo (PS) and Valérie Pécresse (LR) – had included menstrual leave in their presidential program.
On the side of the Ministry of Transformation and the Public Service, the device of Saint-Ouen is not disputed since it is part of the equal framework of special authorizations of absence. On the other hand, a problem exists in his eyes for a possible generalization. “Introducing menstrual leave does not solve the problem of women, and could even create inequality during recruitment”, concedes Stanislas Guérini, the minister in charge of this portfolio, with Le Figaro. And he’s not the only one to think so.
True social progress for some, menstrual leave would create for others a new stigmatization of women in the world of work. Many women would also fear a form of discrimination caused by this leave. If a large part of the employees adheres to the idea, “many women see in the menstrual leave an additional argument to exclude them, and, before establishing it, it is first necessary to be able to speak freely about the periods”, explained Aline Boeuf, sociologist and author of a thesis on the management of the menstrual cycle in the professional world, in the columns of TV5 Monde.
However, “menstrual leave cannot create discrimination between men and women on a subject that concerns only one of the sexes” according to the conviction of Dimitri Lamoureux, co-manager of La Collective, a cooperative company specializing in canvassing for NGOs, which since the beginning of 2021 offers its female employees one day of paid leave per month optional, for the period of menstruation. On the contrary, the measure could allow better management of menstruation and above all a less taboo relationship with the rules in the professional sphere, on one condition: that it “does not promote discrimination or harassment”.
The countries which, in theory, have adopted menstrual leave can be counted almost on the fingers of one hand. Japan was among the first to enshrine this measure in its legislation, in 1947, and does not set a limit on the number of days that workers can take. But almost half a century later, the leave intended for women is almost never used: less than 1% of employees use it according to figures put forward by a study carried out by the Japanese Ministry of Labor in 2020 and cited by the AFP. The modesty specific to Japanese culture coupled with the fact that absences from menstrual leave are unpaid in 70% of companies may explain this lack of use of menstrual leave.
South Korea followed Japan’s lead in 1950, but the law sets the number of menstrual days off at one per month and any days taken are unpaid. Nearly 20% of employees say they have recourse to this provision, again according to AFP. In Indonesia, days are counted per menstrual cycle during which employed women are entitled to one or two days off. The measure has been enshrined in Indonesian law since 2003, but in practice companies circumvent the legislation or limit this leave to one day per month. In Taiwan, menstrual leave exists, but is limited to one day per month and three days per year, beyond which women must take standard sick leave which is reimbursed at the rate of half a day worked.
In addition to Asia, menstrual leave is also provided for in an African country: Zambia. In this country, women have the right to take an additional day off per month and the measure is rather accepted despite difficulties in some companies. Elsewhere in the world, companies resort on their own to menstrual leave, such as in Australia, India or France, but examples remain rare.
