Menstrual health and employment law, with a special focus on the new regulation in Spain
Abstract
The newest and most comprehensive interdisciplinary term in discussion of menstruation is menstrual health. This concept has entered labour law mainly through the institution of menstrual leave. The article reports on a comparative research study based on the international literature about menstrual health and menstrual leave. This research is essential for sustainable labour law, as menstrual health concerns labour law not only from a fundamental rights perspective, but also to achieve equal treatment. It can also be linked to fair and decent working conditions. Countries follow different practices inside and outside Europe, so there is no common legal solution. The issue has global relevance, yet the EU member states are doing very little about it, with the recent exception of Spain, with the regulation implemented in 2023 on menstrual leave. Through a qualitative analysis of international literature, the aim of the study is to support the need for labour law regulation of menstruation.
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Biographies
Lidia de la Iglesia Aza, labour lawyer for over 20 years, is passionate about labour law and civil service law. She is a Doctor of Law from the University of Santiago de Compostela, where she has been teaching in the Labour Law Department since 2021. Her areas of research are quite eclectic: effect of artificial intelligence on labour relations, gender discrimination, transnational teleworking, among others.
Bernadett Solymosi-Szekeres is an associate professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Miskolc, Hungary. Her research focuses on national and international issues of labour law and social law, including the right to equal treatment and reproductive health. Her recent monograph is about menstruation and labour law from the aspects of reproductive health and gender equality.
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