A British company says its female staffers will now be permitted to take time off when they’re menstruating, and it will not be considered as a regular sick day.
The director of the Bristol-based Coexist, Bex Baxter, said it was a necessary move to counteract taboos and acknowledge the unique physical challenges that some women face ever month. “We wanted a policy in place which recognizes and allows women to take time for their body’s natural cycle without putting this under the label of illness,” she told the Guardian.
For some women, periods can cause debilitating pain that makes it challenging to go about a day’s work—yet they feel they cannot take sick days each month without being seen as unproductive. But Baxter says she wants to break down that negative association. “If you work with your natural rhythms, your creativity and intelligence is more fulfilled,” she says. “And that’s got to be good for business.”
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Eyewitness Accounts From the Trump Rally Shooting
- From 2022: How the Threat of Political Violence Is Transforming America
- ‘We’re Living in a Nightmare:’ Inside the Health Crisis of a Texas Bitcoin Town
- Remembering Shannen Doherty , the Quintessential Gen X Girl
- How Often Do You Really Need to Wash Your Sheets?
- Why Mail Theft Is on the Rise
- Welcome to the Noah Lyles Olympics
- Get Our Paris Olympics Newsletter in Your Inbox
Contact us at letters@time.com