CD Projekt is considering menstrual leave after announcement from GOG

It’s about damn time

Although large-scale change is always slow, we’ve seen the games industry moving in a better direction over the past few years by way of workers’ rights. While much of those conversations have been focused on crunch and outing workplace abusers, a new conversation about menstrual leave has emerged by way of GOG (which stands for Good Old Games), a digital distribution platform for media, and a subsidiary of CD Projekt.

“We’re happy to announce that, effective today, we’re implementing Menstrual Leave for all menstruating employees of GOG,” the company said in a LinkedIn post. PC Gamer reached out to CD Projekt’s PR Director Radek Grabowski to inquire whether this policy would also extend to GOG’s parent company, to which he replied, “GOG is spearheading this initiative, and we’re looking into it further for the whole CD Projekt.”

GOG’s culture and communication manager Gabriela Siemienkowicz led the initiative to implement the menstrual leave policy. The company estimates that employees who use the leave will take “an additional day off per quarter,” although they may take time off as needed, Siemienkowicz told Axios.

Ladies in RED — it's a pleasure working with you! Happy #InternationalWomensDay pic.twitter.com/pxbiUvZ2fB

— CD PROJEKT RED (@CDPROJEKTRED) March 8, 2020

A larger conversation about menstrual leave throughout all industries has been brewing for months now, with some raising concerns about policies, which some consider to be controversial. The main fear is that those who take the leave will be considered “less capable,” Axios said.

It’s a real shame it should even be an issue in the first place, especially when women are already constantly trying to prove their capability as employees in the games industry, because those who deal with menstruation know how necessary it can be to take time off of work. With a continued push for workers to put their health first, this initiative is an important step towards a more inclusive, beneficial work-life balance for employees.

Considering what a large figure CD Projekt is in the games industry, offering menstrual leave could be setting a great precedent for the rest of the industry to follow — now here’s to hoping it starts to catch on elsewhere.