A UK company is set to create a ‘period policy’ to give women time off work during their monthly cycle.
The new initiative aims to tap into female staff’s ‘natural rhythms’ in order to create a happier and more productive work environment.
Company director Bex Baxter, who employs 31 staff – seven male – at a social community group named Coexist, wants to change the stigma around ‘women’s issues’.
Bex, 40, said: ‘I have managed many female members of staff over the years and I have seen women at work who are bent over double because of the pain caused by their periods.
‘Despite this, they feel they cannot go home because they do not class themselves as unwell.
‘And this is unfair. At Coexist we are very understanding. If someone is in pain – no matter what kind – they are encouraged to go home.
‘But, for us, we wanted a policy in place which recognises and allows women to take time for their body’s natural cycle without putting this under the label of illness.’
Coexist employs mostly women and wants to acknowledge the monthly pain many experience – and hopefully increase workplace productivity.
Bex added that ‘There is a misconception that taking time off makes a business unproductive – actually it is about synchronising work with the natural cycles of the body.’