THE PERIOD LEAVE POLICY- A HOPEFUL OR DISCOURAGING MOVE?

INTRODUCTION-

The ‘menstrual leave policy’ which is set on a motion has now triggered a national debate of sorts. The Zomato which is one of the largest food aggregating companies has implemented its new policy to provide women with a period leave and to facilitate women with a supporting and encouraging workplace.

However, the introduction of this policy by a high profile organization, that is, Zomato has sparked both negative and positive considerations. The policy gave rise to several questions whether it is a form of kind gesture towards women? Whether this policy is a way to avoid a toxic workplace where women are not hired just by the reason that they need some rest for a few hours? Whether this policy in any manner violates the Right to Equality guaranteed by the Indian Constitution? Whether this policy has given birth to discrimination that it became a source of anti-feminist or is a liberating move?

WHAT IS PERIOD LEAVE POLICY?

The organization named ‘Culture Machine’ (Mumbai based) adopted its new policy of FOP, that is, First Day of Period Leave to encourage women empowerment and to increase their productivity at the workplace. This liberating and freeing policy is adopted with a view to uplift the position of women in society and to provide the women with a sort of easiness and comfort at their workplace.

In addition to this, the company started a petition for the Ministry of Women and Child Development and Ministry of HRD regarding the policy to implement the same across India.

This policy has subsequently been adopted by the organization named Gozoop and Asian countries such as Japan and Taiwan.

The objective of the Policy-

·       To facilitate encouraging and supportive workplace

·       To provide working women with a sense of safekeeping

·       To address the women-centric issues

·       To embrace the discomfort and pain suffered by women during menstruation

 

Zomato by implementing the “period leave” and allowing the women and transgender to have up to 10 days off per year is an appreciable move but also been a national debate revolving around feminism. Instead of welcoming this progressive move, this policy has been criticized.

I understand that rather being feeling uncomfortable at the workplace on the very first day of periods, women should be allowed to sit back at their homes and have a rest. But again whether they are permitted to have a rest and exempted from household work? Whether they should be given leave from physical thought process along with the mental tension?

Ironically, on one hand, women protest against their rights and demand equality in terms of salaries, recognition, and respect at the workplace and fight to ensure that menstruation is not treated as a sickness. Further, women strive for equal job opportunities and equal rights. How this policy that favors women in taking more leaves than a man takes in an ordinary course makes a woman entitled to equal pay for their jobs. When women work less when compared to a man then how she can demand equal pay? This is a clear violation of equality in the context of the working man.

  On the other hand, some women highly find fault with the discrimination at the workplace and their homes. For instance, there is a social tradition of ‘Chhaupadi’ in Nepal and some other parts of India where the menstruating women must sleep outside the house because she is deemed to be impure during those days. Further, at some places, women are not allowed to enter the kitchen and are prohibited to visit the places of worship.

Whether is this practice to humiliate women just because she is a woman? Why the menstruation is seen as a shame?

The Supreme Court in the Sabarimala case observed that the practice of prohibiting women of age 10-50 years from entering the temple is a rudimentary practice which is gender-biased and considers women of menstruating age impure. The court declared this practice as arbitrary and violative of Article 14 of the Indian Constitution.

AUTHOR’S VIEW-

According to UNICEF, about 71% of young women in India remain unaware and ignorant of their menstruation cycle until the time of their first cycle.

I acknowledge this policy to be progressive for some but regressive too. This policy is just a double-standard approach that created a sense of disability for women and at the same time, we consider women as powerful. Whether this is a policy of biological acceptance? What if a woman takes undue advantage of this policy? Whether gender equality and professionalism is superior or the women empowerment is superior?

Many protested against this maternity leave and are not able to wrap around this initiative as they believe that in the past when menstruating women did not face any difficulties in going to the workplace and do their respective jobs so what is the need for this policy now?  I understand that not every woman suffers from unbearable pain on their first day of periods while some women to work effectively at their workplaces are used to have pain killers. As far as the productivity aspect is concerned, every woman is versatile. The women who experience unendurable pain can have a medical certificate for that. But giving them a period leave would take them back to the discriminatory phase where they were put with numerous restrictions. When the women can come to their work during their pregnancy then what is the need for this period leave? 

Gurneet Kaur

BBA LLB (H)

ICFAI UNIVERSITY, DEHRADUN

Disclaimer: This article is the personal opinion of the author. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any Indian Government or any other Government of the world.