Three quarters of Australians believe workplaces should provide free period products, yet less than one quarter of Australian workplaces do.
This finding comes from a new study commissioned by COS, an Australian product supply company, offering solutions for the workplace.
Researchers surveyed over 1,000 Australian workers and found that while 73 per cent of people believe there’s a need for organisations to provide free period products in the workplace, only 24 per cent do.
Speaking to what could be causing this disconnect, Cos’s co-CEO Belinda Lyone shares some of her theories with Women’s Agenda.
Firstly, organisations might be viewing period products as an extra expense for the bathroom, rather than coming at it from an employee benefits angle, Lyone says.
“The other thing I think probably happens, which we see a lot in workplaces, is around who is the person that is allowed to make this decision,” she says, noting that often, there’s a “departmental disconnect” that sees the decision-making baton passed around without anyone making a final call.
Finally, there’s the question of how to get organisations to stop viewing period products as an “additional expense” because “it’s not actually that much more expensive when you kind of do the calculations on it,” she says.
Based on the survey’s findings, it looks like younger generations are leading the way in their views that companies should be more inclusive for women’s health.
Eighty-nine per cent of people in generation Z (ages 18 to 24) said they believe there’s a need to provide free period products in the workplace. This sentiment then decreased by age groups, as 81 per cent of 25 to 34 year olds, 72 per cent of 35 to 44 year olds and 64 per cent of 45 to 54 year olds felt the same.
“Generationally, what we’re seeing is younger generations taking a more holistic view about employers”, Lyone says about the data, adding that Gen Z seems “to look further than salary and wages and incentives.”
In terms of industries, real estate and property management workers were in full agreement (100 per cent) that it’s important for companies to support periods with free period products. On the flip side, transportation workers were the least likely to support this notion (84 per cent).
Delving deeper into how this made workers feel, 80 per cent of people said the availability of free period products in the workplace would positively impact the well-being and comfort of employees.
Notably, male respondents shared the sentiments of female respondents, with many comments highlighting how men felt that “it could make a huge difference to women, and yet makes no difference to anyone who doesn’t have periods, so it seems like a no brainer” and “it’s the least companies could do when women show up to work and perform their duties while in pain or suffering.”
Aside from access to period products, COS notes that other ways companies can make offices more inclusive for women is to implement flexible work policies (employees could swap their work from home days on particularly heavy period days), creating an open dialogue around periods to eliminate the stigma and to have resources related to periods available to staff for educational purposes.
Lyone hopes to see period products become standard in every bathroom, similarly to how normalised seeing toilet paper or a hand towel has become.
“For too long female workers have been hiding period products as they walk to the bathroom, embarrassed to talk about it with their colleagues, or saying they feel uncomfortable talking to their manager about requesting leave or working from home to manage their discomfort,” says Lyone.
“By businesses stepping up and providing pads and tampons free of charge to staff, the company is not only making female employees feel more comfortable, but also taking a significant step in normalising periods at work.”