2023-06-30 08:32:36
The Gironde departmental council adopted on Monday the launch of an experiment to offer accommodations to its female agents suffering from painful periods. It will not strictly speaking be a question of “menstrual leave”, the law not authorizing the community to take such a measure – even if the department assures that it will be able to show flexibility in the matter – but of a series of measures which will be discussed at the start of the school year.
The Gironde is thus following in the footsteps of the city of Saint-Ouen, a pioneer in the field, and the departmental council of Seine-Saint-Denis, which also wishes to launch an experiment in this direction from September 2023. 20 Minutes questioned the elected Gironde at the origin of this measure, the departmental adviser in charge of diversity and equality, Marie Récalde (PS).
The department has adopted the principle of an experiment to move towards a “menstrual leave”. What is it about ?
It is a subject of equality for our 4,500 agents, out of the 7,000 agents in the department. We are launching an experiment with menstrual leave for agents who suffer from painful periods, endometriosis-type diseases, and symptoms related to menopause and premenopause. The idea is to put in place concrete means to help women manage this problem of the period of painful menstruation. This could be flexible hours, a space to rest while the stamps take effect, for those who can telecommute on a dedicated time, an adaptation of the work, in particular for the agents who carry heavy loads, and of the position. of work. This is a subject that we will work on from the start of the school year for an application at the beginning of 2024.
The fact of including women affected by menopause and premenopause is a particularity compared to experiments carried out in other communities, why?
Because between 45 and 50% of the officers in our community are between 40 and 55 years old, and they are therefore potentially concerned by the subject. It’s less talked about, yet it’s not an easy time for women either. We also want to work on this subject for transgender people, who may be affected by menopause.
However, there will be no days off per se?
Not at the moment, because there is no specific legislation for menstrual leave, and the law does not allow us to set up a real leave, such as sick leave or leave for sick children. In Spain, it exists, but not in France. However, we can be flexible when the person is in too much pain. It may be a day or two of sick leave, but we would like to avoid women having to go to the doctor for this. We want it to be flexible, natural, but it’s not easy because it has long been a taboo subject, which we are finally starting to talk about a little.
Even if we talk about it, and the subject is less and less taboo, it is however progressing slowly…
Indeed the subject is on the table, but it is not moving quickly. The proof is that the government did not retain it within the framework of a bill tabled by senators and left-wing deputies. For our part, this initiative is also part of our approach to offer sanitary napkins to all young girls in college. I strongly believe in the virtue of example and experimentation, and local authorities are a good laboratory for this, before moving towards a law from which we are no longer very far, I hope.
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