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Source: JGI/Jamie Grill / Getty

British company Coexist announced a groundbreaking ‘period leave’ policy in order to encourage a more creative and efficient work environment by aligning work flow with menstrual flow, The Guardian reports.

The director of the company, Bex Baxter, made the decision after watching many of her staff members suffer through work days because of Aunt Flo.

“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,” says Baxter.

Baxter’s understanding policies have us all ready to interview to be a member of her staff…immediately.

Coexist isn’t the first company to cater to their employees’ feminine needs. Many East Asian countries have government mandated “menstrual leave.”

So what’s good, America? Why are we out here popping Advil and Naproxen in the office just to stand upright, while our soul sisters abroad are curled up on the couch with a pint of ice-cream and a heating pad?

Robert Berg, M.D at OB/GYN at NYU Langone, says turning period leave into a blanket policy could prove to be a slippery slope for many companies.

Berg believes paid leave for menstruating women is tricky because it’s human nature to take advantage of such a policy, whether your symptoms are severe or not.

Beyond company best practices, other feminist critics oppose the menstrual leave policy, fearing it would reinforce stereotypes that women are the weaker sex and can’t control their hormones.

Although we can understand the validity of that argument in a corporate environment seeped in patriarchy, the fact is, the pain that comes with your menstrual cycle is driven by hormones and uncontrollable.

Do we really think the best option for women who suffer from dysmennorhea (the medical term for debilitating menstrual pain) is for women to just drug themselves for days?

Although the solution to this ongoing issue is up for debate, we’re just happy the topic is on the table.

What do you beauties think?

RELATED LINKS

11 Ways To Feel Like A Goddess While On Your Period

TRIED IT! : THINXing Differently About Your Period

UNPOPULAR OPINION: I Really Enjoy Period Sex

 

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