I'm offering my employees menstrual leave —

I'm offering my employees menstrual leave — because thinking periods don't affect your work is outdated

The story behind Tori Dunlap's menstrual leave policy.

Tori Dunlap is offering her employees menstrual leave. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photo: Courtesy of Tori Dunlap)
Periods are a part of life for many, but talking about them — and the challenges of working while pushing through painful cramps and energy-sucking fatigue — remains largely taboo. In a 2023 UVA Health study, 45.2% of women using the Flo app reported needing to take time off due to period symptoms, but most felt they lacked workplace support to address these concerns.

Tori Dunlap, founder of Her First $100K, wants to change that. In a recent LinkedIn post, Dunlap shared her company’s new policy offering menstrual leave, stating that it’s the “human” thing to do.

“Periods can be painful, exhausting and debilitating. Pretending they don’t affect work is outdated,” Dunlap wrote “We build policies around reality, not stigma.”

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Dunlap has long been a champion of empowerment for women and other marginalized individuals. After managing to save $100,000 at the age of 25, she quit her job to build a business — which includes the Financial Feminist podcast, a book and programs like Stock Market School — that would inspire her followers (particularly women) to reach their own financial freedom. Dunlap herself is already a multimillionaire at the age of 30.

Now, she’s found a new way to push for workplace equality — by recognizing the ways in which menstruating individuals are disadvantaged when forced to work through pain. In this interview with Yahoo's Priscilla Blossom, Dunlap shares what inspired her to create the policy, how it works and what the response has been.



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