near Toulouse, a company introduces menstrual leave for its employees
The Louis company, which has assembled and produced wooden office furniture for companies, has since March 8, 2022 allowed its employees to benefit from one day off per month in the event of painful periods.
It’s an idea that is slowly making its way into the world of work. More and more companies are considering setting up menstrual leave for women who respect painful periods. In France, this system was initiated for the first time last year by a Montpellier company. It has now been imitated for two months by a Toulouse start-up.
Specialized in the manufacture of wooden furniture, the Louis company, in Labège, gives employees the opportunity to benefit fromone extra day off per monthif they feel the need when they have their period.
“A lot of good reasons”
In the middle of the cabinetmaking workshop, Margot is busy at her workbench. “We have an order for several offices for a large client”, explains the young woman of 23 years. A physical work that requires in particular sensitivity”trays of about 12 kilos. If you carry a hundred planks in a day, it means that you have lifted more than a ton of wood.” A substantial effort that becomes even more important on the days when Margot has her period. “Yes, it is certain that when we have our periods we are weaker, we have much less strength and efficiency is not at all there.”
And this is even truer when the periods are painful. In this young start-up, which has 17 employees, including eight women, the idea of setting up menstrual leave quickly became obvious. But after receiving the green light from the management, we had to convince the colleagues. Manu, cabinetmaker and staff representative, worked on it. “We organized a kind of small meeting during which we gave a presentation on the rules to make them understand that it wasn’t just a whim and that there were a lot of good reasons justifying this measure“, he explains.
“It struck me as odd that companies hadn’t thought of that before.”
Convinced, the men of the company ratified the agreement without difficulty. “It’s not something I had thought of myself but when we started talking about it, I immediately found it natural and it seemed strange to me that companies had not thought of it before “, says Gaël, in charge of finishing at the workshop. Machine operator, Jean-Baptiste believes for his part that he does not feel aggrieved, on the contrary: “I don’t have physical problems every month that prevent me from working so, in terms of fairness, I find it normal that they can rest if they need it.”
For Margot, and her female colleagues, it’s much more comfortable. “Having this menstrual leave reassures us. It tells us that we can go home to rest if we can no longer work or carry heavy loads. And then it feels good psychologically to tell yourself that you have the support of bosses and colleagues.”
A device that inspires other companies
“The device works very well”, assures Clothilde Soulé, production manager. “It’s a right, it’s not an obligationif they don’t want to say it, if they don’t want to take that day off, it’s as they wish”, specifies this framework of the start-up, whose average age of employees is around 25 years. According to Clothilde Soulé,it is not normal for a woman with painful periods to have to take a paid day off because she is not well when it is something that is recurrent, that happens every month, and that cannot be controlled”.
On the management side, we do not see this as an additional burden. “For us, it’s not a sacrifice at all.”notes Thomas Devineaux is the company’s founder. “At no time did it occur to us to ask how much it costs. To be honest, we didn’t even try to do the math. The idea is really to ensure that you work in the best possible conditions. by developing well-being within the company.”
In Paris, Lyon or Bordeaux, several companies have defined their interest and are now asking this Toulouse start-up for advice in order to establish a similar model in the long term.