Pacific Media Network also supplying employees with sanitary products
New Zealand's Pacific Media Network (PMN) has announced a new menstrual and menopause leave policy, the first time the benefit has been introduced across the country.
NewsHub reported that under the benefit, E tū union members at the network are given 12 extra days of leave annually that they can use when experiencing period or menopause systems.
"The menstrual, menopause policy, it is a leave just like how people have sick leave at work," explained Lusia Petelo, PMN Union delegate and radio announcer, in a video.
"So, for women here at Pacific Media Network who are part of our E tū union collective, if for any reason they are feeling unwell because they have menopausal-, menstrual- related issues, they can actually have a day off and get paid for it," she added.
In addition, the company is also mandated to provide employees with sanitary products, reported The Spin Off.
According to Petelo, introducing the period leave is more than just about the problem of exhausting all sick leaves, but also about women empowerment.
"It's more than just: "Hey, can I have a sick leave because I've used up all my sick leave looking after my kids or my family." It was really about woman empowerment, it was about the future that this place has for the women that are going to walk through our doors," she said.
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Discussions on having a period leave within the company has been raised as early as last year, but this was initially turned down by PMN chief executive Don Mann.
The official changed his mind later on, however, following Petelo's persistence over the request.
"When she challenged me about our Pacific values as an organisation, I didn't have a comeback," said Mann in a statement. "But then I thought, why not us? Why couldn't we enable change in an area often unspoken among Pacific cultures?"
The new benefit is expected to affect all E tū staff, since they were the ones who pushed for the new leave policy. However, Petelo said their long-term goal is to expand the benefit for all workers within the PMN.