Kingston Council has announced it will be working with charity Bloody Good Period to tackle period inequality in the workplace.
It has joined the charity’s employers scheme after an internal survey found that most council employees would not feel comfortable talking to their manager about periods, especially if the manager was male.
The scheme was designed to revolutionise the way employers approach period-related issues in the workplace through a series of educative workshops and self-evaluation.
Councillor Alison Holt, a sponsor of the Women’s (+Allies) Network for Kingston, said: “We are proud to support this amazing charity and are looking forward to working together.
“We are ready to go beyond just talking about periods and create huge, long-term positive changes to normalise this topic and support our staff in the right way.”
A council spokesperson said Kingston Council would be using Bloody Good Period’s self-evaluation tools to improve the culture surrounding periods in the workplace.
Bloody Good Employers Programme Manager Joe Gray said he was delighted when Kingston became the first local authority to sign up to the scheme when it joined last month.
“The impact of this commitment will be felt by thousands, which gets us off to a flying start,” he said.
Gray said he wanted to see the council adopt a more proactive leadership through clearer communication and enhanced inclusivity. He said he hoped this would lead to council employees becoming more confident and less stressed at work.
The council said it hoped other local businesses would be inspired by its commitment. A spokesperson said: “We will promote our accreditation journey and we are already speaking to other local authorities who are interesting in joining as well.”
Bloody Good Period has ten UK companies signed up to the scheme.
