Why is menstrual leave so hard to use, even when it exists?

I think many people know the name of the menstrual leave system.
However, in reality, aren't there many people who feel that they have "never used it," "it never comes up in conversation at work," or "even though the system exists, it is difficult to use in practice"?

Having a system and being able to use it are not necessarily the same thing.
I think menstrual leave is one of the systems that clearly illustrates this.

In the first place, menstrual leave is based on Article 68 of the Labor Standards Act.
According to the law, when a woman for whom work is extremely difficult on menstrual days requests leave, the employer must not require her to work on those days. In other words, it is not a system provided merely out of company goodwill, but a mechanism with a basis in law.

However, there is a point here that is easily misunderstood.
That is, menstrual leave is not automatically paid.
The law stipulates that an employer must not require work when a request is made, but it does not uniformly determine whether the wages for that day should be paid or unpaid. That is left to the work regulations and system design of each company. Even in materials from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, allowing leave without pay is treated as a response in line with the law.

The distress caused by menstrual pain and premenstrual syndrome can affect work.
There are days when it is difficult to work as usual due to pain, lethargy, drowsiness, or difficulty concentrating.
If that is the case, it seems natural that there should be a system to take time off when you are feeling unwell.

Even so, menstrual leave often remains a "system that exists but is hard to use."
Why does this happen?

One reason is that discomfort related to menstruation is still often treated as something difficult to talk about.
Even if it is a fact that one is feeling unwell, many people feel resistance to communicating that it is due to menstruation.
It is hard to tell a supervisor, it is even harder in a workplace with many men, and one feels that even if they explained it, it would not be understood.
Just having that atmosphere makes the system much harder to use.

Another reason is that menstrual leave is easily perceived as "special treatment."
What should be consideration for feeling unwell can sometimes turn into a perspective of "is it really necessary to allow that much?" or "what about fairness to others?"
I think that the workplace culture of how the system is understood actually has a greater impact than the existence of the system itself.

What is important here is not to think of menstrual leave only as a matter of rights, but to view it as a mechanism to support continued employment.

If you push yourself on days when you are feeling unwell, the quality of your work will drop, and it will be painful for you as well.
Even if you can make it to work in the short term, that is not always the best option.
Being able to take proper time off on necessary days is also an adjustment for working long-term.

On the other hand, menstrual leave alone does not solve everything.
In reality, there are days when you are "not sick enough to take the day off, but it is difficult to work as usual."
In that case, what is needed is not just the single option of taking leave, but more flexible responses such as making it easier to take breaks, temporarily adjusting work duties, or making it easier to leave early.

Thinking about it this way, the difficulty of using menstrual leave is not just a problem with the system itself, but also a problem of how the workplace positions discomfort associated with menstruation.
It is not a matter of "if it exists, just use it"; both whether there is an atmosphere where it can be used and whether there is room to adjust without taking leave are being questioned.

I do not think that the problem surrounding menstrual leave should be closed off as a special issue for women only.
This is also a question of how an organization faces invisible health issues and discomfort that varies by individual.
In that sense, it connects to a broader theme of how an organization supports people who work while dealing with various types of discomfort.

But at the same time, it is also a fact that discomfort associated with menstruation is a health issue specific to women.
That is precisely why we need to articulate it as a problem of the system and the workplace, rather than pulling it back into an "individual problem."

Menstrual leave is not a sufficient system just by existing.
What is truly important is whether it has become something that can actually be used by those who need it.

And furthermore, I think what we should aim for is not just a "workplace where you can take leave because the system exists," but
a workplace that does not force a choice between taking leave or pushing yourself to work
.

The reality that menstrual leave is hard to use does not mean the system is meaningless.
Rather, it shows that having a system is not enough, and it will not function unless it is accompanied by workplace understanding and implementation.

How do we bridge the gap between the system and reality?
I think menstrual leave is one of the gateways to thinking about that.