Italy could grant paid menstrual leave soon

Bill raises privacy issues, might deter companies from hiring women, critics say

It’s that time of the month and all you want to do is stay in bed.

If you are a woman employed in Italy, you might soon get to do that if you can prove you suffer from painful periods.

The Italian parliament is considering a bill that would require employers to grant women three days of paid leave every month, according to the Washington Post.

To qualify for menstrual leave, women would need a certificate from a medical specialist.

The bill, which says that between 60 and 90 per cent of women suffer from painful periods, was presented on March 13 by four female politicians from the ruling Democratic Party. It could be approved in the coming months, the Post said, citing Rome’s Il Messaggero.

Critics say it raises privacy issues and worry that it might deter companies from hiring women.

“Are we going to have legislation for women that goes disease by disease, disorder by disorder?” said Elisabeth Ballermann, secretary-treasurer of Canada’s National Union of Public and General Employees.

“Our preference would be to continue the route of saying we are going to get to the point where all workers have access to paid sick leave for legitimate, verifiable reasons.”

If a similar law were to pass in Ontario, it would significantly change the current law, said Ido Katri, a Trudeau and Vanier scholar at the University of Toronto’s faculty of law.

“This would create a great imbalance of rights between people who menstruate — a group that might also include people who do not identify as women — and those who do not. That would be hard to justify,” he said. Ballermann said governments should avoid gender-specific or disease-specific legislation.

The concept of menstrual leave has been around for decades.

Japan has had it since 1947. South Korea has allowed women to take one day off a month for menstrual leave since 2001. Indonesia, Taiwan, Zambia and three provinces in China — Anhui, Hainan and Hubei — give women between one and two days off for menstrual cramps.

Some companies offer leave, too. Nike introduced worldwide paid menstrual leave in 2007. Coexist, a community-interest firm in Bristol, introduced a period policy in 2016, tapping into the natural cycles to benefit everyone, according to the Independent.