Equality in the workplace is a complicated and vitally important thing – including who gets to take leave for what issues when it comes to parenting, fertility, menstruation and miscarriage.

Last month, for instance, the UK Government announced that pre-24-week pregnancy loss will be formally recognised within bereavement leave legislation, as part of the Employment Rights Bill. For the first time, miscarriage and other forms of early pregnancy loss will be acknowledged in law as a bereavement. It is expected to take effect in 2027, and will entitle those affected to a minimum of one week’s protected bereavement leave to the person who physically experienced the loss and their partner, recognising the wide-reaching impact of such loss. 

“For fathers and partners, pregnancy loss can bring grief, shock, and a deep sense of helplessness, yet their needs are often overlooked,” Vicki Robinson, CEO of the Miscarriage Association says. “Bereavement leave is vital because it recognises their loss, gives them the space to process what’s happened, and allows them to support their partner without the added pressure of work. It sends a clear message that their role and their grief matter too. This change is an important step towards equality in both grief recognition and workplace support.”

But in order to achieve true equality when it comes to leave from work – and all the problematic gender dynamics that come with this – we need to look further than this. We need to be campaigning for, and highlighting the importance of, equal parental leave for fathers, as well as drawing attention to the need for a diverse range of elements when it comes to menstrual leave. This ensures that leave for the purposes of fertility or family isn’t limited to a working mother’s working life and career, but gives space for equal parenting and for women to take care of their body when their fertility journey may not be going so well, or stopping them from doing their best work.

In June, the world’s first “Dad strike” took place in London, seeing fathers take to the streets to demand fairer paternity leave. Current UK paternity leave for fathers is one to two weeks – paid below the living wage – which is one of the worst examples of such leave in the world. The campaigners called for six weeks full pay for paternity leave, in order to help close the gender pay gap and balance childcare responsibilities. The strike was organised by campaign group The Dad Shift UK, who run a grassroots campaign for better paternity leave in the UK.

"Proper parental leave for fathers and non-birthing parents, alongside proper provision for mothers, is an absolute game changer for gender equality,” George Gabriel, co-founder of The Dad Shift, says. 

“Countries with better paternity leave have lower gender pay gaps and higher female labour force participation, but the benefits aren't limited to the gains women can make at work. These same countries have lower rates of postpartum depression, lower rates of relationship breakdown, and more equal distributions of caring responsibilities throughout the life of the child."

George explains that fair paternity leave creates a fairer workplace and wider societal system for women, and all other parenting teams.

"The best paternity leave systems aren't just for fathers,” he says. “They are for non-birthing partners in same sex couples, are reserved for the mother in the case of single-parent households, and are transferable to other individuals intimately involved in the healthy raising of the child such as grandparents."

He adds that such leave also affects cultural expectations and attitudes: "Study after study shows when countries improve paternity leave the prevalence of sexist opinions and stereotyping fall.”

On top of incoming bereavement leave, a petition fighting for women’s leave in the workplace to become more equal and multi-faceted is on track for enough support to be debated in Parliament. It calls on the UK Government to “introduce statutory paid menstrual leave of up to 3 days per month for people with conditions such as endometriosis and adenomyosis”. Portugal introduced a law concerning this type of leave earlier this year.

The petition has received 50,000 signatures, meaning the government must respond to it – if it hits 100,000 signatures, it will be debated in Parliament. 

“Equal workplaces support the needs of all employees,’ Rachel Grocott, CEO of motherhood activist charity Pregnant Then Screwed says. ‘This includes supporting the menstrual health of women and people who menstruate, from the provision of period products in workplaces, to policies including flexible working and leave for menstrual health conditions. Supporting women’s needs enables them to stay and succeed in the workplace, and is an essential part of gender equality.”

Grocott adds that provisions around such leave will change conversations around both menstruation and miscarriages, and the importance of “supporting women as they navigate the emotional journey that becoming a mother can be”, or whatever your fertility journey may lead to. 

The space for anyone to take leave for needs around menstruation, miscarriage, childbirth and parenting – and continued efforts to ensure all people and experiences are supported – is the only way for all members of the workplace to feel empowered, particularly women. 

Other countries around the world are ahead of the UK when it comes to paternity and menstrual leave. Spain and Portugal both offer menstrual leave, with take up being slow in the former country, partially due to the fact that legislation limited leave qualification to those suffering with conditions such as endometriosis. Sweden, Lithuania and Iceland are considered leaders when it comes to generous paternity leave – and it’s time for the UK to catch up.

What is crucial here is that maternity leave cannot be the only workplace right that we need for equality to be achieved. All types of leave that make space for parenting, fertility and menstrual issues will empower women in the workplace. For Dad Shift’s George Gabriel, change begins (and ends) with campaigning for more – for equal leave, in order to “contest the increasingly toxic narrative around what it means to be a man in Britain today” and give women the space to work the way they want to, while taking care of their bodies and raise a family with equality in mind, if they choose to.