Zomato Introduces Period Leave

Introduction:

Indian food delivery company Zomato on 8^th August 2020 announced that it would give its women and transgender employees 10 days paid Menstruation leaves per year. Zomato being one of the top companies in its field, introducing such a policy has shaken the grounds of many Indian Organisations. This move is a step for breaking all the discriminatory and misogynistic stigmas that are in the minds of Indians concerning menstruation.

Founded in 2008, Gurugram-based Zomato is one of India’s best-known companies with more than 5,000 employees. A culture of trust, truth and acceptance should be promoted. Acceptance is what lacks in our society and with Zomato announcing and promoting the period leave scheme has shown its strong support towards its female members and enhanced its work culture.

People are getting more mature, empathetic and accepting towards other people. Menstruation is still a major taboo in our country and most women face discrimination during their periods. While most women are able to bear the pain of this biological anomaly, some are not able to. There shouldn’t be any shame attached to applying for a period leave.

This move has placed people on two sides i.e. one group supporting it and the other against it. Some advantages and disadvantages of this move are stated below:

Advantages

• Many females don’t know much about menstruation until their first menstruation cycle starts. Most women in our country don’t have access to basic menstrual protection materials like sanitary pads and tampons and because of this, women are not able to do well and be productive. This is due to lack of awareness. This move has made people aware of the pain that every woman feels every month.
• There is now acceptance for the biological difference between men and women and awareness is spread for the same. Women and Transgenders can freely talk about Periods without any shame or stigma. As every woman goes through this phenomenon, people shouldn’t be afraid to talk about it and thus it shouldn’t stay as a taboo.
• Earlier, women were not willing to work at workplaces because they were scared of being criticised for having periods, also According to an NDTV 2018 report, more than 20 million girls drop out of school when their first menstrual cycle starts [4]. Because of this recognition by Zomato, more women would be unafraid to work and men wouldn’t throw unnecessary judgements for the same.
• There is a lack of space for women to change their menstrual protection materials during their menstruation days results in their health levels to decline and causes severe diseases to them. Also, some women feel severe pain, heavy bleeding, insomnia, nausea and headache during this time. While being at home, they can feel safe in their comfortable environment and can take care of their health as well.

Disadvantages

• One aspect of this would be as more women would be willing to work at inclusive workplaces like Zomato, but at the same time, employers wouldn’t prefer to hire women over men as the employers will have to give them paid leaves, whereas men don’t have this issue, and would work on those days as well. Men will have extra burden as their female co-workers would be staying at home and the other employees will have to cover their jobs.
• Another disadvantage of this move would be is that even if those women who can bear the pain of menstrual cycle would prefer to opt for this leave. It being a paid leave, would be like a paid holiday for those people.
• For some women, periods are a private matter, and this move would lead to a reduction in their privacy. They wouldn’t want anyone to know about their menstrual problems at the workplace.
• While everyone is fighting for equality in workplaces, this will be a special privilege to women in the corporate world. It also makes women look weak. Till now women are able to manage their periods and work, but now if this provision is added, it will show that women on periods are weak and they cannot work during this time and because of this, they might also get to hear sexist remarks by their male co-workers.

Legality

Article 42 of the Indian Constitution which is a Directive Principle of State Policy states “The State shall make provision for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief” [1] which shows that the government doesn’t have a problem with period leaves as the government supports such decisions. This being a Directive Principle, it is not enforceable. It’s not compulsory to enforce such provisions, though organisations should impose such regulations to make their women employees feel comfortable. Whereas Article 15(1) states “The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them” [2] to which Article 15(3) “Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any special provision for women and children” [3] is an exception. Even though, this provision may seem to be discriminatory in nature yet such provisions are supported by the government.

A landmark example is shown by the Bihar Government as, since 1992, it has directed every organisation in the state to give two days of special leaves every month to its female employees without any justification needed by them.

This shows that there is no doubt that legality of this move is being questioned, however, we should bear in mind how the society has been impacted by this move.

Conclusion – The Real Insight

According to me, period leaves should be optional women should be able to either work from home or should be given half days.  

Zomato has done an exceptional job with reducing stigma about periods and spreading awareness about equity. It has also earlier given Maternity paid leaves to both women and men so that they can take care of their new-born. Because of the 10-day paid period leave per year by Zomato, a Surat-based digital marketing firm has given its employee’s a 12-day Period Leave per year.

A Private Member’s Bill by a Lok Sabha member from Arunachal Pradesh, Ninong Ering called ‘The Menstruation Benefit Bill, 2017’. It includes a provision in Section 4 [5] which says that two days of paid menstrual leave for women in both the private and public sectors should be made compulsory. It is to still be taken up by the Parliament, though this bill if taken into effect, will force every employer to have this provision which I don’t think would be the best thing to do. The period leave provision should be of a discretionary manner.

Rather than criticising this move by Zomato for spreading inequality, we should talk about equity. Giving men and women the same provisions wouldn’t be fair. We should acknowledge the fact that there are biological differences between men and women and they both have different biological needs.

Also, personally, I don’t think men can have a critical opinion about this as men cannot understand what a female during this time would be feeling like, and therefore I agree with the proverb “No Uterus, No Opinion”.

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