What is period leave? The complicated push for a new employee benefit

More employers are considering offering workers time off for menstruation—but it’s not as straightforward as it might seem.

Menstrual leave, which allows workers to take time off due to their periods, is not a particularly new concept. Russia had a history of offering it in the 1920s, while Japan introduced it into labor law in 1947. Other Asian countries, like South Korea and Indonesia, also enacted similar policies of period leave in the 1950s. More recently, Spain enacted menstrual leave in 2023, and other countries are in the process of adopting a national policy.