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While most workers are offered family and medical or sick leave, rare employment benefits are attracting new attention.
Her first 100K is a personal finance and career platform for Generation Z and Millennial women, joining a short list of other US companies whose employees have paid menstrual leave to those experiencing periods of symptoms apart from paid or sick leave.
Tori Dunlap, the founder of her first $100,000, said the decision came from her own experience as a woman who is forced to overcome the pain of the period.
“Menterology is a normal biological process,” she said. “Creating menstrual policies felt like common sense, reflecting our belief that it means acknowledging the real experience of the team, rather than pretending that inclusivity does not exist.”
According to Yale Medicine, more than half of women experience some degree of deisormua, a medical term for painful periods. However, about 15% of women find the pain so severe that they stay home from school or work.
A 2019 survey published in the peer-reviewed journal BMJ Open’s discovery period symptoms were associated with losing nine days of productivity per year at work and school.
According to Yale Medicine, pain can be due to the duration itself or due to reproductive disorders such as endometriosis, uterine fibroids, ovarian cysts, pelvic inflammatory diseases, or urinary disorders. In addition to menstrual cramps, patients may also vomit during periods of headaches, dizziness, lower back pain, nausea, and pain.
So how does the paid period work? Dunlap said it was “deliberately easy.” Employees can take paid leave when they are experiencing symptoms over the period. “No explanations or documents are required.”
If the company had not adopted paid menstrual leave, employees could have taken time to sick or paid. However, Dunlap said he believes team members should not choose to “take care of their own body and save time on vacation due to other needs.”
Her first $100K is not the first North American company to carve out menstrual leave as an independent profit.
The Canadian company’s divas, the company behind Menstrual Cup Divacup, offers paid menstrual and menopause leave. According to a social media post, the global software company Nuvento also has a 12-day period vacation policy that allows women to take a day off in pain during periods.
Terms of leave are also legally protected in other countries. In 2023, Spain passed Europe’s first menstrual leave law. Menstrual leave is common in countries such as Japan and Korea, but sometimes it is unpaid.
Dunlap said the feedback from her team was “really positive.” Their small remote team is now made up of all women, but she said that people who are not dependent will get the same benefits as paid leave and sick time if they participate.
Dunlap hopes that her company’s policies serve as an example of a large company where “humanitarian policies and successful businesses are not in conflict.”
“Mental leave is just a step, but the bigger lesson is that when you trust your team and prioritize their happiness, everyone benefits,” she said.
Adrianna Rodriguez can visit adrodriguez@usatoday.com.
