Question from Aurora
When will menstrual leave be generalized in France?
Hello Aurora, and thank you for your question.
France is still far from the generalization of menstrual leave.
At this point, only some companies have set up such a system, such as the furniture manufacturer Louis Design, which offers additional paid vacation days to people with painful periods.
The PS municipality of Saint-Ouen, in Seine-Saint-Denis, launched on March 27 the experiment with menstrual leave for its agents, at the rate of two days of paid leave available per month.
The Socialist Party, which had included menstrual leave in its program for the 2022 presidential election, has been offering a day of menstrual leave to employees at its headquarters since the end of 2022.
“If the employer can organize itself to make life easier, that’s a good thing, and we’re looking at how we can encourage, actually facilitate the commitment of companies“said Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne this Thursday, April 27 on France 2.
Law proposals in the pipes
Ecologist and socialist deputies are preparing bills to try to create menstrual leave in France.
“We can decide” when the proposals have been submitted “and that we will have visibility on their content”, explained Isabelle Rome, the Minister Delegate for Equality between Women and Men.
In January, the government launched a national strategy to combat endometriosis, with a research program endowed with several million euros.
A first in Europe with Spain
In Spain, MPs definitively adopted a bill in February creating menstrual leave for women suffering from painful periods, a first in Europe.
The duration of sick leave that doctors may grant to women suffering from painful menstruation has not been specified in the new law.
Elsewhere in the world, a handful of countries have already introduced menstrual leave, mainly in Asia: South Korea, Indonesia since 2003, Japan since 1947, Taiwan and Zambia since 2015.
Good day.
