Re: Menstrual Leave
 

LOL :D

Re: Menstrual Leave
 

You didn't just "go on the other side" mate, you have helped prolong one of the biggest myths going; that women have more tolerance to pain than men.

It's bad enough having to cope with women accusing us of having "man flu" etc. etc. but for a man to back this nonsense up...... :scared:

I was joking before with the hairdressers/cleaners thing, but this time I am completely serious. It's right up there with the "they already have boyfriends" alleged "joke" about not being able to find a decent bloke.

The battle of the sexes is fine, but defectors should be shot :D

Re: Menstrual Leave
 

Hhmmm...

I don't suffer hardly anything(though... I'd say it's worse than an ordinary cold), but I do know it can be quiet bad for some people.

Here's the poll :D ;)
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=283513


Btw, who mentioned 20 sick days? I only have 10!

Re: Menstrual Leave
 

I mentioned 20. Must have read that somewhere - maybe confused with annual leave. Sorry. One employer I worked for gave us all 10 days. We also got an annual "sickness" bonus equivalent to 5% of our salary. However, for every one of those 10 days we had off sick, we lost 0.5% of that bonus. Sick leave was not frequent!
Sure, people would come to work with colds and flu and infect us all and affect productivity but the bonus made it worth it!
Company is no longer operating!
Genuis - pure genius!

Andrew

Re: Menstrual Leave
 

Thanks Simone! (Am I allowed to vote? No, I suppose not.)

Re: Menstrual Leave
 

Or indeed as we've now probably established, 22 vs. 10. Quite a ratio. But where's the craziness? You might just as well say that it's crazy to offer female drivers lower car insurance premiums. Yes, it's pigeonholing people by rather broad divisions, but to make everybody pay the same premium would go down like a lead balloon. (Some) women do have to take more time off specifically because of this so you might as well legislate for it in order to stop discrimination. That's right, despite what people seem to think, this is anti-discriminatory, not pro-.

Re: Menstrual Leave
 

I agree; I think that a lot of the female hostility comes from the attitude that "these whinging sisters are letting the side down".No, to be honest I can't see the problem here. Timings are (mostly) fairly regular so it's easy to schedule around. Also most of the more greatly affected women surely went through this at school, being let off gym once a month, so it's not a new concept. The flip side is that women in close groups tend to synchronise their cycles, so they might all end up being off together!

Re: Menstrual Leave
 

Gosh Mark, you suspiciously know a lot about this subject ;) :D

Re: Menstrual Leave
 

I'm veyr lucky and don't suffer from pain each month, never have, but I do sympathise with the poor souls that get hit hard.

However, I don't agree with 'sick' leave specifically for period pain, unless the same consideration is given to others who suffer from serious bouts of other chronic illnesses. For instance - I worked with a girl in the UK who had terrible wtaer retention, was being poked around by doctors without much success. Every time it got hot her ankles swelled so much she couldn't wear anything on her feet withou cutting the skin. The manager knew, but told her every day off would be a day lost from leave or sick leave. I had such bad skin at that time that on occasions, about once every 3 months, I couldn't walk, I was told the same. A third girl, in the same office, would phone in every month with period pain, take 2 days off, and not have to account for it, no leave taken, he filled in all the forms as if she was at work.
Its a question of fairness all round.

Re: Menstrual Leave
 

Actually JTL if women work together long enough most of them will have their periods at the same time. It's called "kennel syndrome" in dogs but is found in any large office where there are many women working together. (no bitchy jokes allowed! :mad: ) My biggest worry would be that the whole female workforce would be off en-masse!

However, even as a woman who suffers badly I cannot say that I would support this kind of thing. There are special tablets available which help and if push comes to shove that's what sick days are for, isn't it? Next thing we hear people will be wanting extra sick leave if they work in an environment where they are more prone to becoming ill (eg a call centre with many people all together)! Or how about that other week in the month when I suffer from PMS? Can I get that off too an account of being a bitch to work with? (Hear all of my workmates say "YEAH!")

This also will not be helping gender relations, as someone mentioned before. I am currently struggling with a very cute young woman at work who is using all the tricks in the book to get off from doing her job and it's giving me the shits. If we want EQUALITY then let it be equal, this is starting to border on the rediculous!

So shoot me, I'm a defector! I have three sons and I am getting fed up with the way in which woman have become more-than-equal in society.

Re: Menstrual Leave
 

So I'm wondering what you think about Maternity leave?

Not that there is much of that in Oz....

Re: Menstrual Leave
 

Yeah, that would be an even bigger worry, if half the workforce went missing for a couple of days a month!

I'm not an expert on this, but I thought it was only if the women were in close proximity for most of the time e.g. nurses who also shared nursing quaters or something, who synchronised. It can't be just cos you are in the same building as another woman? :eek: And if that is the case, then MMW's theory on the timings being predictable is shot through for new employees, until they've uhhmmm joined the collective cycle.


So we've one defector each way now! We could do an exchange ;)

But really, its not a them & us scenario. Its trying to work out what works best. As I said, even doing it individually, on a person by person basis wouldn't work, it would create resentment between those who do get a day or two off a month, and those who don't (and then those who want it but don't deserve it and so on).

Cheers,
JTL

Re: Menstrual Leave
 

I believe in maternity leave for mothers and parenting leave for fathers-to-be. Both parents should be there at the start of a child's life. I don't believe that mothers are more important to children than fathers.

Re: Menstrual Leave
 

JTL, I don't consider myself to be a defector, but know that's the club that feminists will swing at me.

I agree with you wholeheartedly on the resentment thing, but do feel still that this is all getting a bit too PC. As for the kennel syndrome thing, it works in any area where women work close proximity e.g. a common admin office or a call-centre or a hospital etc. And yes, it doesn't work for newbies and also not always for everyone, but it does seem to happen very often.

Re: Menstrual Leave
 

And what happens to us women who don't have a menstrual cycle at all?

Do we just lie so that we can take the time off in lieu of having one? :D