The House of Representatives today (24 September) approves a new bill proposing amendments to the Labour Protection Act so that employees are entitled to 3 days of menstrual leave per month.

The bill was proposed by People’s Party MP Wanvipa Maison, who is a former textile factory worker and union leader, along with a number of other People’s Party MPs.

It proposes to amend the Labour Protection Act so that female employees are entitled to 3 days of menstrual leave per month in addition to paid sick leave, and so that employers are required to provide a space onsite for mothers breastfeeding or expressing breast milk.

The space must be private and set aside only for breastfeeding mothers, no more than 20 metres from the workstation. The employer must provide chairs, tables, electrical outlet, a breast pump, and a refrigerator for milk storage. Employees are entitled to two 30-minute breastfeeding breaks over the 8-hour workday for at least a year after they had given birth.

It also proposes that employees are entitled to 15 days of annual leave to care for a family member or close relations who has been admitted to a hospital or require physical or mental care.

The bill proposes to amend Section 15 of the Labour Protection Act to require employers to treat all employees equally. They are not allowed to discriminate on the basis of birthplace, race, language, gender, age, disability, physical condition, status, religion, education, political beliefs. They are also not allowed to do anything that would deny anyone their legal rights. The provision in this section covers job application process, pay raise, promotion, and other benefits to which both men and women in the workforce are legally entitled.

Wanvipa posted on her Facebook page that the amendments aim to improve the quality of life for workers. She hopes that the bill will guarantee that workers will be treated with dignity and live a secure life.

In another post, Wanvipa wrote that, by providing 3 days of menstrual leave per month, workers are protected during the time when mentrual pain is often the most severe. She noted that not every person will take the full 3 days, but those who experience severe menstrual pain should have the right to do so.

She wrote that it would be unfair to make women taking menstrual leave to spend their sick leave days, because it would mean that they have less sick leave quota than men and so employees should be given additional menstrual leave. She noted that the International Labour Organization and the World Health Organization is pushing for menstrual health to be treated as a right that should be protected to prevent discrimination in the workforce.

She wrote that, in countries like Japan, South Korea, and Spain, where employees are entitled to menstrual leave, only a small percentage of workers has taken the leave. However, women reported feeling more confident and that they are being treated more fairly at work.

Meanwhile, a study of 32,000 women in the Netherlands found that, while the rate at which workers miss work due to menstruation symptoms are not high, working while experiencing pain made them less productive.