Australia’s biggest unions are fighting to address gender inequity in the workplace by pushing for menstrual and menopause leave.
Between 88 per cent and 92 per cent of women in Australia aged 18 to 25 experience painful periods – an experience that many male workers don’t have to navigate at work.
This week, the Australian Workers’ Union (AWU), the United Workers’ Union (UWU), the Transport Workers’ Union (TWU), the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) and the Australian Workers’ Manufacturing Union (AMWU) began surveying their members ahead of a national campaign to introduce menstrual and menopausal leave.
And leading workplace law firm Maurice Blackburn Lawyers has joined the unions to campaign for these necessary leave entitlements.
Maurice Blackburn Lawyer Jessica Heron said that existing leave provisions under the Fair Work Act are insufficient since they don’t allow women to take personal leave for menstrual-related pain.
“The most effective way of combating this unfairness is to create a uniform legislative standard allowing for additional leave days under the Fair Work Act,” said Heron. “Women should be given at least 12 extra days leave a year, or one day per month.”
She adds that this is even more important with the knowledge that women often take on most of the family responsibilities and shouldn’t be forced to “deplete their personal leave further if they regularly experience debilitating period or menopause symptoms.”
Painful menstruation that’s not attributable to a well-defined pathology occurs in 45 per cent to 93 per cent of women.
And between 7 per cent to 11 per cent of women in Australia have a formal diagnosis of endometriosis, meaning that as many as 700,000 women or 1 in 10 women experience this disease which sends many to hospital.
Between 2016 and 2017, 34,200 women were hospitalised in Australia due to endometriosis. And nearly 80 per cent of these hospitalisations occurred among women aged 15 to 44.
AWU Queensland State Secretary Stacey Schinner also points out that “some women suffer throughout their entire working life” with pain and complications associated with menstruating, pregnancy, peri-menopause and menopause.
The TWU’s Lana Goodman-Tomsett said: “It’s clear that the world of work as we know it was not established for women to be equal contributors.”
Goodman-Tomsett noted that even in 2022, many women are still “forced to suffer in silence” from period pain and compromise their health “just to participate in the workforce, especially in male-dominated industries.”
She says many women “are afraid to share a diagnosis, or discuss symptoms, including ongoing pain for fear of bosses thinking they will be sick every month.”
“Some are even forced to take hard pain killers rather than ask for concessions like flexible work arrangements.”
Linda Revill, National Coordinator Property Services with United Workers Union, said: “It’s time our workplace legislation was redrafted to finally and properly acknowledge that half the population are women. Menstrual and menopausal leave are crucial for working women’s rights, which too often go unnoticed.”
“We must also have a discussion about how proper rights to leave for women apply across the board and do not leave out those trapped in insecure and casual work.”
Other countries such as Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, China and Taiwan have already taken a step forward in providing menstrual leave entitlements. And in Spain, menstrual and menopause leave is funded by the government for up to five days a month.