Miscarriage leave e introduction of menstrual leave for municipal employees suffering from endometriosis or painful periods. These are the requests that Anne Hidalgo Mayor of Parishe added in a letter to Prime Minister Elisabeth Bourne dated 17 April. Currently, Board officials, like most other employees, are required to take sick leave if they have painful periods and are not entitled to leave if they have a miscarriage. However, according to Hidalgo, it’s time for a change.
“With menstrual leave,” explained Le Parisien Antoine Guillou, Deputy Mayor of Paris, “We would like to see women no longer have to go to the doctor and therefore have waiting days. We are the largest municipality in France, we must lead by example”Since 2019, local governments cannot grant additional days off to their representatives, and working hours in public administration bodies are the same throughout the territory. “We are not asking the government to introduce menstrual leave, given that the minister has said against it,” Guillou added. “We’re just asking them to give us a chance to act.”
There is already a precedent in France: the municipality of Saint-Ouen introduced menstrual leave for female workers in March last year without government permission. “The office of Stanislas Guerini, Minister of Public Administration, indicated a few months ago that, in accordance with municipal law, the inclusion of absences in the case of menstrual leave in the number of special permits,” explained the mayor of St. Owen. “In public administration,” Hidalgo said, “legislative and regulatory frameworks seem to be interpreted differently depending on territories and employers.” Because of this Mayor hopes French Prime Minister Elisabeth Born will clarify the situation take responsibility for solving the problem and let municipalities choose what type of permits to introduce. This would already be a first step forward on issues that are now being discussed more and more often.
Source: Elle