Between acceptance, fear of unemployment and a vacuum in Congress

The Chamber of Deputies has already received the initiative of the Congress of Mexico City to create menstrual work licenses. With this project, the Commission for Labor and Social Welfare of San Lázaro accumulates five in the same sense and that it has not analyzed. There is also a pending proposal in the Senate in this regard.

All the initiatives propose reforming the Federal Labor Law to establish paid leave that could be used by women and menstruating people who suffer from severe colic. The proposed temporary leaves are between one and three days, depending on each project.

The menstruation It entails different symptoms, some painful. In some women and other people this can cause physical disability during that period. “In the most severe forms, the pain can present as an acute and intense abdominal episode” and in this case it is “disabling dysmenorrhea,” says the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS).

But this type of licenses or work permits can be implemented by companies without the need for a legislative modification. Doing so would improve your reputation and work environment.

He 67% of people surveyed by the online job exchange OCCMundial believes that work permits for menstruation would reflect “the interest in caring for the health and well-being” of workers.

According to said survey, seven out of 10 workers consider that this type of temporary leave “would have a positive impact in the productivity and organization of the companies”.

Creating work disability “for people who suffer from primary or secondary dysmenorrhea is an important step for the labor market,” says OCCMundial in the survey report.

“The possibility of working comfortably once the strong symptoms have passed is another of the benefits that this license brings with it. Also I know would strengthen empathy between the work teams, an important value for relationships and the proper functioning of the staff”, he adds.

However, although among the women who are aware of this reform proposal, 43% think that “it is an excellent way to support women during their menstrual cycle”, 57% consider that they fear that this will lead to any less Job opportunities because “companies will not want to hire them knowing that they will be absent.”

The results of the OCCMundial survey reveal the lack of information about menstruation and discrimination, as well as the naturalization of the violation of labor rights by the companies.

35% think that menstrual licenses “would put them in a difficult situation as it is something private and very intimate.” The fourth part “assures that this will not happen because it would be discriminatory.” But to discriminate is to hinder or deny a right. And finally, 64% say that companies will find a way not to apply this license.

Two and three day leave initiatives

Los projects pending review in the Labor and Social Welfare commissions of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate are from Morena, MC, PRI, PAN and PT.

The initiative of the parliamentary group of MC in San Lázaro proposes “to include the gender perspective in the work environment”. One of the measures to achieve this would be to “incorporate a leave of up to three days a month when the workers are unable to carry out their workday due to the menstrual period”.

The license must not affect “your salary, seniority, payment of premiums, vacations, bonuses, incentives or other acquired labor rights.” This would be established in the article 63 of the LFT. It states that menstruating workers or people “will be able to choose remote work, carry out their workday with reduced hours or paid leave.”

Federal deputy Diana Gutiérrez Valtierra (PAN) also recommends that they be “three working days, with pay” and that they be granted on the condition of presenting a gynecological doctor certificate”.

According to OCCMundial, 10% of people does not agree with this type of initiative “for fear that this mainly affects productivity, the balance of activities and even, in the opinion of women, that this is one more reason to avoid hiring female workers.”

Legislator Diana Gutiérrez’s initiative expressly incorporates the prohibition of “dismissing a menstruating worker or coercing her, directly or indirectly, to resign, for exercising your right to temporary disability”.

Meanwhile, the Morena project, proposed from the Congress of Mexico City by legislators Alicia Medina Hernández and Nazario Norberto Sánchez, is the only one that takes into account people who work in the private sector and in State institutions.

In both cases, women workers and menstruating people would have paid leave of two days a month if they have a diagnosis of disabling primary or secondary dysmenorrhea.

In the Senate, legislator Claudia Ruiz Massieu (PRI) entered an initiative since 2020 to grant two business days with pay every month, as long as the workers have a gynecological medical certificate.

Suggestions for a day off

Legislator Ana Laura Bernal Camarena (PT) proposes granting paid leave for one working day to women workers who justify that, for the symptoms caused due to the menstrual period, they cannot fulfill their work obligations.

Meanwhile, the deputy Adriana Campos Huirache (PRI) proposes a single day of rest per month with pay “when due to their menstrual period, if (the workers) are prevented from fulfilling their work day, or in their case, allow them to carry out their work activities through the remote work modality or online”.

In the survey carried out by OCCMundial, 58% of people “expressed with all certainty their total agreement” with the creation of a menstrual leave.

“28% agree as long as this initiative has certain regulations that ensure that the license is intended for those who really require it and that it does not interfere in daily activities that affect third parties.”

And “3% have confessed that they are undecided or impartial with the initiative because they have no knowledge of the subject or it is simply not an event of their interest”.