How do I ask for time off for my period?
Welcome to Pressing Questions, Fast Company’s work-life advice column. Every week, deputy editor Kathleen Davis, host of The New Way We Work podcast, will answer the biggest and most pressing workplace questions.Q: How do I ask for time off for my period?A: The short answer, and perhaps the easiest solution, is to take a sick day (or days) if your period causes symptoms that make work difficult. Just telling your boss “I don’t feel well today and will be taking a sick day,” seems like the path of least resistance if you only sometimes experience difficult period symptoms. If you suffer from period pain, endometriosis, uterine fibroids or intense hormonal shifts, you may be entitled to “reasonable accommodations” under the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA. Reasonable accommodations can take a lot of forms and in this case could include time off work or the opportunity to work remotely. But even if your symptoms aren’t debilitating, it can still be difficult to work while experiencing period symptoms and most Americans aren’t allotted enough sick time to take off several days each month. If you find yourself in that situation, the best thing you can do is talk to your manager. It may be an awkward conversation, but the only way we start to break the stigma is to talk about the issue more. You don’t need to apologize or be embarrassed. You can say something simple like: “I have some period symptoms that make work difficult; on those days I’d like to work from home or have my camera off on Zoom or may be slower to respond to messages or may need to take some sick time.” If you’d like to lobby for bigger company-wide change you can point to the growing movement for period leave that some companies have been adding as an employee benefit. But the idea of a company-wide period leave is fraught. “Menstrual leave is a total double-edged sword,” says Nadya Okamoto, cofounder of August, a period care brand. “It’s needed, but on the other side, when you have blanket period leave, in addition to patriarchal stigma that thinks of periods as a weakness, the cons are that women are less likely to get promoted. There’s an assumption that they’re actually only working 75% of the month because they have this automatic period leave. And we’ve seen time and time again that it actually really stunts the accelerated success of women in the workplace.” Many believe that a better solution is unlimited sick time and PTO, because while everyone doesn’t get a period, everyone does experience health, caregiving, or other personal issues that require time away from work, without fear or stigma.More on period leave: What is period leave? The complicated push for a new employee benefit Could menstrual leave be the next work-life benefit? Too many women are working through their high menstrual pain instead of taking the time off they need Bleeding on the job: a menstruation investigation
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Welcome to Pressing Questions, Fast Company’s work-life advice column. Every week, deputy editor Kathleen Davis, host of The New Way We Work podcast, will answer the biggest and most pressing workplace questions.
Q: How do I ask for time off for my period?
A: The short answer, and perhaps the easiest solution, is to take a sick day (or days) if your period causes symptoms that make work difficult. Just telling your boss “I don’t feel well today and will be taking a sick day,” seems like the path of least resistance if you only sometimes experience difficult period symptoms.
If you suffer from period pain, endometriosis, uterine fibroids or intense hormonal shifts, you may be entitled to “reasonable accommodations” under the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA. Reasonable accommodations can take a lot of forms and in this case could include time off work or the opportunity to work remotely.
But even if your symptoms aren’t debilitating, it can still be difficult to work while experiencing period symptoms and most Americans aren’t allotted enough sick time to take off several days each month. If you find yourself in that situation, the best thing you can do is talk to your manager. It may be an awkward conversation, but the only way we start to break the stigma is to talk about the issue more.
You don’t need to apologize or be embarrassed. You can say something simple like: “I have some period symptoms that make work difficult; on those days I’d like to work from home or have my camera off on Zoom or may be slower to respond to messages or may need to take some sick time.”
If you’d like to lobby for bigger company-wide change you can point to the growing movement for period leave that some companies have been adding as an employee benefit. But the idea of a company-wide period leave is fraught.
“Menstrual leave is a total double-edged sword,” says Nadya Okamoto, cofounder of August, a period care brand. “It’s needed, but on the other side, when you have blanket period leave, in addition to patriarchal stigma that thinks of periods as a weakness, the cons are that women are less likely to get promoted. There’s an assumption that they’re actually only working 75% of the month because they have this automatic period leave. And we’ve seen time and time again that it actually really stunts the accelerated success of women in the workplace.”
Many believe that a better solution is unlimited sick time and PTO, because while everyone doesn’t get a period, everyone does experience health, caregiving, or other personal issues that require time away from work, without fear or stigma.
More on period leave:
