Should leave and flexibility to manage reproductive health be a minimum entitlement for Australian employees covered by the Fair Work Act? Complexities, possibilities, and unintended consequences

The case for paid reproductive health leave in Australia continues to garner significant momentum. Reproductive health leave is a workplace entitlement providing employees, regardless of gender, with paid time and flexibility to treat and/or manage reproductive health needs such as menstruation, perimenopause, menopause, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), endometriosis, in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments, vasectomy, hysterectomy, and terminations. ‘Should leave and flexibility to manage reproductive health be a minimum entitlement for Australian employees covered by the Fair Work Act?’. By engaging with this policy concern, we critically examine intersecting and nuanced perspectives on the utility of this workplace entitlement. We outline possible legislative and policy pathways to provide Australian employees with the rights and agency to manage their reproductive health and work. Correspondingly, we interrogate the potential unintended and latent consequences arising from these policy reforms, including submissions that paid reproductive health leave entitlements (re)produce rather than challenge gendered workplace norms.