Menstrual paid leave is a type of leave that are given to women from their employer, if she is menstruating and is unable to work because of the pain she is experiencing during this time.

The concept isn’t new as some may claim, seeing how it first started in the early 20th in Japan, after World War II. According to the 1947 Labor Standards Law, any woman who experiences painful periods and her job is to exacerbate her pains then she was allowed seirikyuuka (meaning ‘physiological leave’).

Now, this issue is being opened on social media outlets by several people in Egypt, the idea that of course was considered controversial and was met with several different views on the matter. Discussing whether or not, this should be implemented in Egypt.

While some accepted and welcomed the idea, others considered it as an inequality between males and females in the workforce.

One agency ‘Shark and Shrimp’ actually took the positive initiative and implemented the leave, whereas they decided to give their female employees two days off, and that is in consideration to both their physical and psychological well-being.

Rania Youssef, the HR manager of the company, explained that in reading about menstrual leave on several Facebook pages, she decided to discuss the idea with the manager, who approved it right away.

She further explained that employees work 10 hours per week for four days, which means that any female will get two days off monthly. This action, she says, was taken in the hope to provide a comfortable environment for women.

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One of the well-known figures who commented on the topic is Amr Adeeb, who found the call for such a leave as unreasonable and ridiculous, also demanded that if women were allowed a one week paid leave, then men must be given an equal leave. He also expressed his worry about work inefficiency that will occur; due to such a decision.

Although Adeeb gave some respectable and valid points of views, some may beg to differ that the pain a woman feels during this period is one that shouldn’t belittled. Also, a menstrual leave doesn’t have to be as long as of a week, it can only be a couple of days, because that is actually all the time a woman would need to rest.

While others might agree with Amr Adeeb’s point of views, and would argue that it is difficult for an organization to create alternative options for getting the work done, which will result in the productivity of the organization coming down. And this may actually lead some companies to choose to hire men over women, in fear of inefficiency. Moreover, there is a slight chance for some women to misuse the leave, therefore promoting for escapism in work.

On the other hand, productivity level can actually go up according to the state of mind women have towards their employer, and if it is a positive one, more and more women will be encouraged to participate in the country’s workforce. Also, by addressing these issues and contrary to many perceptions, this will reduce the menstrual taboos and this policy will enable women to ask for menstrual leave.

Menstrual leave has become a controversial topic because we allowed it to become one, it is seen by some as a criticism of women’s work efficiency, when actually it has already been implemented in several countries such as Japan, Taiwan, several provinces in China, Indonesia and South Korea have already implemented menstrual leave policies for women.