Advertisement

Period leave: will it end India’s taboo or will employers object?

  • In India, firms that offer menstrual leave say it supports women to perform their best and builds a more inclusive work culture
  • But critics say such a policy may worsen the gender gap by pushing companies to hold off on hiring women, especially in senior roles

Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
0
A man walks past a school wall painting about female menstruation in Guwahati, India. Photo: AFP
The decision by delivery company Zomato to introduce 10 days of annual period leave to all staff has attracted a mixed response in India, a country where it is taboo to discuss menstruation and other women’s health issues.

According to Unicef, seven in 10 Indian girls only find out about menstruation when they have it for the first time.

Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal thanked the firm’s women leaders for driving the change, which he said had made the company “a little more inclusive”.

“We want to foster a culture of trust, truth and acceptance,” Goyal told Zomato’s 4,000 employees in an announcement about the policy, which is also open to transgender staff.

But as some activists praised the company for sparking a conversation around an issue that has so far been almost invisible, critics warned such policies could also hurt women in the conservative nation, as employers would be less inclined to hire them.

Advertisement