Over 90 per cent of the employees surveyed are very interested in topics relating to women's health, and just as many consider free tampons and sanitary towels to be important or very important in terms of promoting health and well-being. As a company with 98 per cent women in the workforce, BIPA would therefore also like to create more space for the topic internally - including through financial support for period products. From April 2025, all employees throughout Austria will receive a voucher four times a year with which they can pick up a quarterly supply of pads or tampons from the BIPA brand BI COMFORT free of charge in all BIPA shops. ‘On average, women spend around 3,000 euros on period products over the course of their lives. In addition to the financial burden, there are also mental aspects, such as severe pain or a reduced sense of well-being during menstruation. We want to talk more openly about this with our employees and take measures to improve their well-being. The first step is now the free period products,’ says Markus Geyer, Managing Director of BIPA. In addition to financial support, BIPA also wants to use this measure to stimulate discourse on the topic of menstruation and other women-specific topics in the workplace, but also in general. After all, the topic affects around half of all people in Austria.
The vouchers, which are issued to BIPA employees, can be used to pick up a quarterly supply of BI COMFORT pads or BI COMFORT tampons in various strengths and sizes free of charge in all 600 shops throughout Austria. The voucher can also be passed on to family members. ‘It was important to us that the men in our company also benefit from the programme and are educated about menstruation at the same time. After all, women's health is not a female issue - it concerns us all,’ says Markus Geyer.
BIPA assumes social responsibility for period poverty
BIPA has been working with the City of Vienna to combat period poverty as part of the ‘Red Box’ initiative since 2023, and the project was recently extended for a further three years. The ‘Red Box’ provides people with limited financial resources in Vienna with free period products from the BIPA brand BI COMFORT. The vouchers can be collected from social markets, youth centres and women's advice centres and redeemed for tampons and sanitary towels in all BIPA shops in Vienna.
*In an internal survey, 374 female employees were interviewed.
