Period Leave?

Aggression has never been a solution to any problem. Healthy discussions have been instrumental in bringing about change in society.

I saw the video on ‘period leave’ first on the Blush channel. My first reaction was ‘Wow, This feels empowering!’ However, to my utter dismay, the follow-up conversations and practical thinking negated this reaction quickly.

1. The case for applying leave is very subjective. Hence, an organization-wide policy for menses seems unacceptable. A logical alternative will be to include 2 days of optional sick leave. Otherwise, the organization should take a consensus among its female employees before deciding the actual days of leave.
2. In the 1960s and maybe even now, traditional Indian families follow the custom wherein a woman, who is ‘on her periods’, stays in the out-house. There were two reasons behind this custom. First, a woman would be physically weak and suffer from pain and discomfort. Secondly, in this way, the woman won’t be tempted to contribute to household chores. However, this practice was considered to be discriminatory and has been abolished in modern urban households.
3. Gender disparity still exists in the workplace. In such a scenario, this is not a move towards woman empowerment.
4. The feminist in me strives to work towards the empowerment of the entire human race and equality i.e. equal opportunities for persons of all genders. Hence, I will never support an exclusive, women-only policy. As women experience discomfort during menses similarly, even men face discomfort during nightfall. So, if an organization introduces ‘period leave’, I will advocate the introduction of ‘nightfall leave’ too.
5. Most importantly, the concept of period leave is applicable only in the organized sector. In the unorganized sector wherein persons are working on a daily wage basis, this leave policy is not feasible. In the organized sector, female employees can apply for work from home if the health issue is severe.
6. Employees avail sick leave for several reasons – cold, cough, fever, headache or even lack of sleep. Just imagine, during a job interview, an HR asks ‘How many days of period leave do you want? I will not like to answer this question.

In this article, I am also publishing the unedited opinions of women in my peer network to present an objective view of the topic

1) “Period is something that I abhor to a large extent. I have a problem and pain that is unbearable. From the very beginning we have been told to adjust and absorb pain, do not complain but we have been tagged with adjectives such as drama queen, attention seeker, etc. if we speak about our issue. Biology cannot be separated from one’s self. Yes, the women bleed. They bleed because it’s her bleeding which will create a new life. There are roles which society had always put on us. We women had always been on a test by society. Period leave I believe is necessary or at least we are talking about it. Or medical science can put efforts to ease the pain of women. The period leave is for someone who is in a job.

But with this leave campaign, it would not be beneficial for a school going child who gets the period at the young age of 11 or even below that age neither the women who work in the informal sector; there could not be any chance for leave.” – Anonymous

 2) “As a student of human biology, to me, the idea of period leave is a welcome one. First, let’s examine why there is a need for paid leaves at all. It is so that the players can take leave in case of an emergency or just to get a day off from work without having to stress about monetary constraints. It is essential to keep the employees mentally at ease and hence more efficient when during the time they work.
In females, the cyclical fluctuations of hormones actually lead to a lot of physical as well as mental discomfort during the days of menstruation. They do have an option of paid leave. But this is a monthly event and taking paid leave once a month is 12 days a year and that reduces their buffer to take a leave in case of an emergency.
Add to this, the fact that women are expected to ‘suffer through all this’ for the purpose of procreation. Adding an option of period leave reduces the strain on female employees by just letting them know that they have an option. Just wondering how bad the cramps will be this month and how to work during those days itself causes enough stress to a working female.
The main demerits to this idea were 2 points

a) Women feel shy to take period leave. As periods is private and mostly a hush-hush event; – I would say the period leave is essential for this reason as well. If you can write that you need maternity leave in your leave application so should you be able to write period leave. The stigma needs to be gone. And it won’t go if you don’t even give an option.
b) Is that an unfair advantage to females to get extra days off work? – Consider that your female co-worker is suffering in front of you one day of every month because she can’t get paid leaves. Now if she gets a chance to take leave for that day would you say you want to take leave too? Why only women? Because women are the ones who have to come to work even when they have severe backache every month.” – Anonymous

3) “There are many aspects to it.. I’ve been reading many articles both for and against it overall it seems like a positive step, but many women fear backlash from male colleagues because they will get what may be perceived as an unfair professional favor. And the narrative of women being physically weaker and therefore less fit for the workplace may be pushed.

Probably sensitization is as important as taking this step… as of now most women can’t even imagine talking about menstruation with male colleagues, or vice versa

In an article yesterday I read some advantages of the step other than giving relief to female employees: it will encourage women’s participation in the workforce, and improve workplace diversity which is a positive aspect of any company.

I personally feel that maybe something equivalent for male employees should also be in place, like allowing equivalent sick leaves on producing proof, so that it doesn’t seem like an unequal favor.” – Anonymous 

4) “I think it is great that a big company like Zomato brought up this topic in the open like they did.it will go some way in removing the taboo and awkwardness around talking about the issues of pain and discomfort a lot of women in the workplace face each and every month.

That being said, i am not 100% on board with the method. I, for one would be super uncomfortable logging into my HR portal and applying for “Period Leave”.
The general conversation around work culture and the challenges in the present world have brought us to a point where we know everyone needs days off now and again. It would have been great if a company like that had just said here is a raft of days you can take for whatever reason, no questions asked as long as your work does not suffer. these could be used for mental health bad days, period pain etc. it wouldn’t require justification. That’s just my 2 cents.” – Anonymous

5) ” We all are broad-minded but when it comes to Menstruation, Sex education why majority becomes shusshhh? 

The real issue is not of gender-bias or gender-friendly organizations. I hope that a time will come when each person will start their career from the same starting point and grow and develop on merit then it will be a triumph for human empowerment. It is high time we respect the human differences that we are born with and coexist peacefully to create social harmony.