- Ms Francesca Cotta is prone to painful cramps, severe weakness and waves of emotional distress during her periods.
But like most Indian women, more often than not, she tolerated the pain on the job because of her own discomfort in bringing it up or worry about missing work deadlines. Court petitions and parliamentary proposals for menstrual policies have been rejected but are bringing the issue to the forefront. Three state governments mandated menstrual leave in 2023 and two more are seriously considering it.Despite religious and cultural stigmas around menstruation in India, several corporations, big and small, are reviewing their human resource policies to offer time off or flexible work days for their women and transgender employees during menstruation.
Menstrual leave allows employees to take time off work when period symptoms like cramps, nausea or dizziness become so painful or uncomfortable that they impede their ability to work. Some experts said a government mandate could help end employers’ last-mile reluctance, especially in manufacturing, retail and sales sectors, which are conventionally lax in adopting labour-friendly practices.
“In no instance has it ever been reported that a menstrual leave policy prevents employers from hiring women,” wrote sociologist Manjima Bhattacharjya, the author of Intimate Cities, in The Indian Express newspaper, making a case for menstrual policies because they create healthier, more equal workplaces.
The northern state of Bihar has given two days of menstrual leave since 1992, even though women made up a small portion of the working staff at the time. The law emerged from a set of demands made by striking public sector employees, among them women teachers, nurses and clerks, who asked for menstrual leave as well as toilets and creches.
An official in the Bihar government’s social welfare department told The Straits Times that the progressive legislation was “perhaps too ahead of its time”, because many professors initially felt “shy and awkward” to ask for menstrual leave.