Fighting for his job, EMA chief executive Alasdair Thompson has backed down on his controversial comments linking women's menstruation with productivity and issued a second apology - a ''full and unqualified'' one this time.

''I apologise for my poor choice of words and bad judgement during the discussion about gender and productivity in the workplace,'' Thompson said in a written statement this afternoon.

His second apology comes as the EMA (Northern) has called a special board meeting on Monday to discuss calls for his resignation and the comments he made during a radio interview.

Last night board chairman Graham Mountfort said the organisation backed Thompson and didn't expect him to step down but that was before he and tv journalist Mihingarangi Forbes clashed during a televised interview last night.

During the interview, Thompson walked over to Forbes and stood over her, causing her to take a step back.

He cut off what she was saying and told her ''Don't put words into my mouth. You're lying to me.....''

Apparently Thompson had thought the cameras were turned off at that point.

It's understood this ill-judged interview may have changed the stance of the EMA's board members who've had significant feedback both supporting and damning the chief executive over the past two days.

Dame Jenny Shipley has this afternoon, in a written statement, called on the leaders of the EMA to clarify their position on the value that women bring to companies, the labour market and the broader New Zealand economy.

Dame Jenny, the chair designate of the women's leadership group New Zealand Global Woman, said Thompson's comments were a matter for the EMA's leadership to decide what action is required and that she expected them to ''act decisively''.

She has refused to be interviewed directly on the matter but her written statement said ''with the investment that employers make in women and men in this day and age, surely the issue is how to retain that talent by salary recognition and workplace flexibility, not your absurd explanation as to why wage differences linger.''

In his statement, Thompson, who has headed the EMA for the past 11 years, said what started out as a genuine concern for the problems women face in the workplace disintegrated into facile observations that did a disservice to what is a very serious matter.

''I raised issues that were misplaced and irrelevant to the discussion,'' he said. ''I realise my remarks offended many people.''

The tone of his second apology is in marked contrast to the one he made yesterday where he stood by his comments and claimed to have been quoted out of context.

Thompson was formerly Mayor of Thames Coromandel for three terms, and a councillor there for a term before that after running a tourism holiday park in the district.