Female workers in Korea are entitled to take one day off for menstrual pains every month but few dare to exercise that right in male-dominant workplaces. The reality they face is harsh. They need to muster tremendous courage to tell their male bosses they will use sick leave for period cramps.

Ko Jae-hee, who has been teaching mathematics for three years at a middle school in Anyang, Gyeonggi province, said that female teachers never use the menstrual leave even though they know they are entitled to it.

“We’re simply too busy to take a day off. We have so many daily tasks to deal with. Most schools are short handed. If one of us takes a day off, it’s almost impossible to cover his or her job,” said Ko.

She said female teachers are terribly reluctant to exercise their right, not because they don’t want to, but because they feel sorry for the extra burden their co-workers have to shoulder in their absence.

“Unlike the situation in North America like Canada, Korea doesn’t have a well-designed institutional system that provides substitute teachers. The employment system at most schools is inefficient and too rigid here,” Ko said.

This case is similar at other male-dominant workplaces. In Korea, women at companies with employees of more than 100 take up less than 1 percent of executives, according to a recent survey by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.

Yoon Jin-sung, a 28-year-old women working at a company where the vast majority of employees are male, said she feels guilty whenever she asks for menstrual leave.

“Every time I ask for the time off, I feel guilty for my co-workers since I know they have to do share my work,” she said.

Yoon and many other female employees point out the need for greater public awareness about why female workers need menstrual leave.

Article 71 of the Korea Labor Standards Law states that female employees are entitled to one day menstrual leave per month. It came into effect in 2001 but many female employees are still unaware of what it even means.

“Few female colleagues in my office know that they are eligible for menstrual leave,” said Kim In-hye, a 31-year-old bank teller in Seoul.

Working at the bank for over five years, Kim said no one has told her she is allowed to take one-day’s leave if she has a painful period. She said she has never seen anyone use that right.

Source: Korea Times