Employers could be reluctant to hire or promote women if menopause leave is legislated, a Liberal senator says, as thousands reach for early retirement because of hormonal changes.
Hollie Hughes made the claim at a senate committee into issues relating to menopause and perimenopause during a heated exchange with industry representatives in Sydney on Monday.
"People aren't going to employ women, if this is all the mandated stuff that's going to come in, and this is a reality for those of us that live in the real world," Senator Hughes said.
"Women will, whether it's intentional or not, (have) bias against (them) when it comes to promotion, when it comes to employment.
"Because if you're looking at two candidates, one who's got an entitlement of an extra 36 or so days of leave per year than the other, which one are you going to pick?"
She said menopause-related leave was not necessary given other types of time off available such as reproductive, menstrual, mental health, parental, bereavement and sick leave.
"This is getting to the point of ridiculous that someone could take six months off a year under all the different types of leave that are being put into plans and programs here that they're entitled to and the impact that that's having overall on productivity, on small businesses, on what's happening in the workforce," she said.
But Christina Hobbs, general manager at financial services firm Future Group, was quick to dismiss the idea different leave allowances would keep women from corporate success.
"As somebody who's founded a business and is now general manager of a financial services company in Australia, one that is performing very well as well as bringing these policies ... our concern is in attracting and retaining women," Ms Hobbs said.
"It's ensuring that everyone can come up to work and perform their best."
When Senator Hughes quipped Ms Hobbs succeeded despite menopause leave not being legislated she was told to "stop interrupting" by others participating in the committee.
Senator Hughes' comments come days after she was shafted from a winnable spot on the Liberals' NSW Senate ticket for the next election.
The senator, from the party's centre-right, lost a preselection battle to conservative newcomer Jessica Collins.
Grace Molloy, CEO of Menopause Friendly Australia, said menopause's symptoms were driving women to early retirement.
"We're expected to deal with anxiety, heavy bleeding, brain fog, sleeplessness, headaches, mood changes, burning up like a flame, and just accept it," she said.
"Because of this silence, a quarter of us will consider leaving work.
"This is avoidable ... we can help change the statistics that show that women are leaving work 7.4 years earlier than men."
Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics has shown early retirements equate to a loss of salary and super of more than $577,512 for women.
Debate on mandating menstrual leave under the Fair Work Act 2009 began in 2022 after several Australian unions pushed for the policy's introduction.
The proposed legislation would give employees who have painful periods or menopause symptoms 12 days a year of paid leave, similar to family and domestic violence leave policy.
