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Good practice Imported

Spain's Statutory Paid Menstrual Leave (2023) — Europe's First Law, Modest First-Year Uptake

Spain · Madrid · See the Spain profile · See the Madrid profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 78% 41/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

In 2023 Spain became the first European country to grant statutory paid leave for disabling period pain — up to 3 days (5 for chronic cases), covered at 75% of salary by social security. Government data show only 1,559 leaves taken in the first 11 months across a 21-million workf

1559
Total uses of leave (Jun 2023-Apr 2024)
4.75
Average uses per day nationally (Jun 2023-Apr 2024)
Spain's Statutory Paid Menstrual Leave (2023) — Europe's First Law, Modest First-Year Uptake

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Ministerio de Igualdad / Ministerio de Inclusión, Seguridad Social y Migraciones (Spanish Government)
Period
2023–present
Region (NUTS)
ES30
Keywords
labour law, public health, social security, gender equality

Context

Spain's Organic Law amending Law 2/2010, passed 16 February 2023 and effective 1 June 2023, grants a medically certified menstrual leave of 3-5 days, paid from day one at 75% of salary via the national social security system (INSS) — Europe's first such statutory right.

Results

Ministry data show the leave was used only 1,559 times between June 2023 and April 2024 (4.75 uses/day nationally, average duration 3.03 days) across a workforce of more than 21 million.

Conclusions

Analysts attribute the low uptake to the doctor's-note requirement, the need to disclose a menstrual diagnosis to an employer, and workplace stigma; it is included as the clearest live EU test case tracking real utilisation of such a right.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k)
Time to results
Medium (1–3 years)
Staffing & skills
existing social security administrative infrastructure (INSS)

Conditions for success

  • integration with existing paid-leave/social-security payment systems
  • employer awareness campaigns to reduce stigma

Common failure modes

  • doctor's-note requirement and stigma associated with disclosure suppress uptake

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

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Data sources

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Attachments

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