GOG is now offering menstrual leave for employees

For all the nasty business going on in the gaming industry at present, there are still a few bright spots. Several companies have started pushing for four-day work weeks to encourage a healthier work-life balance, and unionization efforts are popping up across the sector. One smaller but potentially helpful policy has recently been enacted at Poland-based distribution company GOG: menstrual leave.

The approach is an experimental one, offering employees the choice of taking paid time off in hourly increments if they don’t want or need to take an entire day, according to Axios. GOG’s culture and communication manager Gabriela Siemienkowicz estimates that it would amount to approximately one extra day off per quarter, but grants employees improved flexibility when they need it most.

It’s a policy that’s quite rare, and not just in the gaming industry. Naysayers fear that drawing attention to such biological differences in the workplace, particularly ones that necessitate taking time off, risks isolating those who take it. On the other hand, many feel that such policies encourage an open and taboo-free environment where discussions and conversations can be had about basic human functions that affect huge swathes of the workforce. “It fosters inclusiveness…in the workplace,” Siemienkowicz commented to Axios. “By giving such additional days off, we acknowledge these symptoms [of periods] are real.”