Female workers in Central China's Anhui province will enjoy paid menstrual leave, following the example of their peers in neighboring Hubei province and South China's Hainan province. However, the practice has provoked widespread controversy, the Beijing News reported.
根据北京新闻报道，中国中部地区的安徽省效仿邻省的湖北省以及中国南部的海南省，将会对女性职工实行月经期间带薪休假政策。然而这却引起了广泛的争议。
According to the Anhui provincial government, from March, female workers may take a paid menstrual leave for one or two days on production of a certificate from a legal medical institute or hospital.
根据安徽省政府消息，从今年3月起，女性员工在月经期间只要出示医疗机构或者医院的痛经证明就可以带薪休假一到两天。
However, the three sides concerned -- workers, employers and medical institutes -- all feel this is a difficult issue to handle properly.
然而，三个相关方面人员：员工，雇主和医疗机构，都觉得这个事情很难恰当处理。

Last year, an investigation was carried out in South China's Guangdong province when local authorities were considering menstrual leave. However, more than 20 percent of the investigated females were unwilling to take leave for various reasons, such as exposing their private affairs and causing delays in work.
去年，在中国广东省南部地区当地有关部门针对月经休假并进行了一次调查。然而，由于种种原因，如暴露自己的私事，或者延误工作等，超过20%的被调查的女性不愿采取休假。
Similar worries were felt by a female bank employee in Anhui, who said: "I will consider my work schedule first. There are penalties for those who fail to complete work tasks. I'm afraid my boss will be unhappy."
安徽省一名女性银行职员也有同样的忧虑，她说：“我会先考虑我的工作进度。如果不能如期完成工作任务就会受到惩罚。我怕我老板不高兴。”
Employers also revealed a sense of pressure if they are required to grant paid menstrual leaves. A hotel manager in Beijing said that besides female workers' health, an employer also has to consider operational costs. Paid leave will add to the cost of a company, which will make employers hesitant to hire female workers in the future. Besides, it's difficult to judge if the employee is really sick or just cashing in on being a woman.
此外，一些雇主也对经期带薪休假表示有些压力。北京的一位酒店经理表示，除了员工的身体健康问题，我们还需要考虑酒店的运行成本。经期带薪休假会增加公司的成本，同样也会使雇主将来不愿意招聘女员工。此外，很难判断员工是真的身体不适还是凭借自己是女性而浑水摸鱼。
Li Yinhe, a renowned Chinese sociologist, suggested the authorities pay attention to the side effects of the policy if it causes tension between employers and employees.
中国知名社会学者李银河表示，因为这项政策很可能引起雇主和职员间关系紧张，所以建议政府当局慎重考虑这项政策的负面影响。
As for doctors, there are also problems, because it's difficult to evaluate the degree of menstrual pain an individual woman might suffer. Tan Xianjie, a gynecologist of the Peking Union Medical College Hospital, said that, due to a lack of clear standards, the diagnosis of menstrual cramps is usually based on patient description, and only a handful of people would probably visit hospitals just to obtain a certificate for menstrual leave.
对于医生来说，同样会面对一些难以处理的问题，因为他们很难判断出一位女性可以承受的痛经程度。北京协和医院妇科医生谭贤洁说，由于缺乏明确的标准，痛经诊断通常只是根据患者的口述，而且只有少数人会去医院开痛经证明。
Hainan and Hubei provincial governments issued regulations in 1993 and 2009 respectively, suggesting employers grant paid menstrual leave. However, according to a local newspaper, the policy was not effectively implemented in Hainan as it was not mandatory.
海南省和湖北省政府分别于1993年和2009年颁布了经期带薪休假的条令。然而根据当地的新闻报道，由于条令不是强制性的，所以这项政策并没有得到有效实施。