The Spanish cabinet today approved a draft law giving female workers the right to take sick leave for severe period pains.
The approval of the legislation will make Spain the first country in Europe to introduce such a law.
Women in Spain will have the right to stay at home for the duration of their period pains. The estimated annual cost of 23.8 million euros will be covered by the state.
A doctor's opinion is required to be granted such leave from work.
"We are enacting a law that will ensure that women can live better," Equality Minister Irene Montero told reporters after the cabinet meeting.
"The law puts an end to working in pain and taking pills."
The bill will not be ready to be tabled in Parliament until consultations are complete. Constitutional experts note that the law will not come into force until the end of 2022 at the earliest.
Montero, from the smaller Podemos party in Spain's left-wing coalition, is one of the key MPs pushing the bill.
The bill is to be tabled alongside new abortion regulations, which would allow all women over 16 to terminate a pregnancy without parental consent.
Some MPs from the Socialist Party of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who leads the minority government, have expressed reservations about the bill.
The Economy Minister Nadia Calvinio warned that the law could put women at a disadvantage when competing for jobs.
The government would never approve measures that could "stigmatize women," she said.
Similar laws exist in Taiwan, where women can be absent from work for three days a year due to period pains but receive only half their salary for the days off.
In South Korea, employers must give women workers one day off a month if they request it, but the law does not specify who pays the cost or whether wages must be paid.
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs Cyprus Times
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Times
Source
