Lawmakers in Anhui Province are drafting legislation that would allow female employees suffering from menstrual pains to take time off work.

The draft legislation, titled “Special Work and Labor Conditions for Women of the Province of Anhui”, would also regulate other women’s issues, such as breastfeeding and maternity leave. The legislation proposes the following:

• women can take up to two days off work each month as long as they provide a doctor’s note;
• pregnant women cannot be scheduled to work night shifts or over-time;
• breastfeeding mothers can take one hour off work each day to feed a child under the age of one year;
• companies must also allocate each woman a stipend of RMB 30 each month for “hygienic/sanitary products” in the workplace; and,
• women suffering menopause can apply, with medical evidence, for a reduced workload.

In anticipation that some employers may discriminate against hiring women to avoid the proposed legislation, lawmakers are prohibiting employers from refusing to hire women. Companies would also be prohibited from interfering with women marrying and having babies, or reducing salaries and benefits of its female employees due to marriage, pregnancy, maternity leave, and/or breastfeeding.

Colloquially referred to as “pink holidays”, the issue of providing time off work for menstruating women was first proposed by MBA students at Sun Yat-sen University. The color pink has also been associated with “pink parking spaces“, extra-wide parking spaces at urban shopping malls that were exclusively provided to women drivers.

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