Written by: Sanaya Patel
On 6th August, 2020, Zomato introduced paid menstrual leaves for womxn and transgender people at their organisation. What followed was extensive debate and writing about the implications of the move, on womxn as well as on workplaces.
In 2017, The Menstrual Benefits Bill ignited questions about whether any society could be feminist and still offer paid menstrual leave. While the Bill remains pending, the conversation must move forward. Menstrual leave, however, is only the starting point of the conversation about redesigning workplaces for everyone.
The Girl Who Cried Pain: Womxn And Medical Research
Medical science provides a hint at why menstrual leave is coming to the fore only in the 21st century: womxn’s healthcare is not taken as seriously as men’s healthcare. A study shows that after a coronary artery bypass graft (heavy duty heart surgery), men were administered narcotics while womxn were given sedatives to alleviate pain. Physicians consistently view women’s (but not men’s) symptom reports as caused by emotional factors, even in the face of positive clinical tests. Medical research even has a term for this: Yentl Syndrome, which describes the phenomenon of women being misdiagnosed and poorly treated unless their symptoms or diseases conform to that of men.
Data already reflects that menstrual pain can be almost as bad as a heart attack. Menstrual leave acknowledges that womxn may be sick, or unable to focus and perform optimally during menstruation. It acknowledges the need for different labour standards for people who bleed.
Labour Standards: India’s Attempt At Workplace Equity
On 3rd August, 2018, Ninong Ering introduced The Menstrual Benefits Bill, 2017, in the parliament. The Bill mandates two days’ paid menstrual leave every month for womxn working in the public and private sector. Importantly, the Bill also recognises the right to assess one’s ability to work while menstruating (section 9) and allows for two 30-minute rest breaks during menstruation days (section 5).
Over 30,000 womxn working in Maharashtra’s sugarcane fields have had their uterus removed because they could not work while menstruating, but could not afford to take a day off for fear of losing their jobs. For many like these womxn, staying home is not an option. In the corporate sector, womxn who take sick leave are sometimes viewed as “weak”, or “not cut out” for a job. This reflects a longstanding culture that speaks of productivity only in terms of output and not in terms of efficiency. It also reflects our collective inability to create workplaces that enable womxn to thrive.
The Bill recognises that women are less productive if they are at work during menstruation, and data backs up this claim. A law that mandated monthly menstrual leave would grant much-needed protection and relief to those who fear losing their jobs due to their inability to function for a few days a month, such as womxn working in Maharashtra’s sugarcane fields.
A law that enforces menstrual leave would establish a fair standard of employment for womxn. It would acknowledge the needs of people other than men, for whom workplaces are designed by default.
The Bill, if brought into force, would also give life to the freedoms that our Constitution guarantees and protects for us. Article 15(3) allows the State to make special provisions for womxn and children. A law mandating menstrual leave would bring to life the vision of justice and equality envisioned by a progressive Constitution.
The down side of the Bill is that it has a narrow definition of womxn, and does not account for trans womxn. This must change. The definition must be broadened so that everyone who menstruates can avail of menstrual leaves.
Workplaces Should Be Designed For All Genders
Our understanding of the default design as the design for everyone and any changes in it as an accommodation of a specific gender’s needs are flawed.
Standard workplace infrastructure is designed keeping in mind an able bodied man: bathrooms do not have sanitary products for womxn, temperatures are often too cold for women, and office hours rarely account for people who run their own households.
Another worrying aspect is our definition of productivity: if we are not working at the office and pulling long hours, then we are not getting enough work done. Studies already show that a four day work week lowers stress and does not affect output; on the contrary, it increases productivity. Workplaces are beginning to recognise that a well-rested employee is a valuable asset.
Menstrual leave is not different from sick leave in its purpose to give employees time to recover and come back to work. However, menstruation is not a sickness, but a regular, biological process for those who bleed. This is why it is more important to make a provision for menstrual leave distinct from sick leave: because we know that people who menstruate may be experiencing pain every month, and we must give them the option to decide if they need a day off to rest through the pain. We already know that health care boosts productivity. Research shows that more productivity is lost due to presenteeism (rather than absenteeism) during menstruation. The productivity argument then fails because menstrual leave would maintain output at work.
The argument that menstrual leave could be misused is fallacious: even the 2017 Bill recognises a woman’s right to determine whether they are unable to work due to menstruation. Let people decide for themselves whether they are able to work through menstruation. The argument of misuse can be applied to every law and policy; it doesn’t take away from the need to create these rights.
Workplace equity calls for a design that enables optimum productivity from all employees, and menstrual leave is only the starting point. Menstrual leave reflects that an employer is concerned about the well-being of their employees.
The most common fear that we have heard so far is that a law mandating menstrual leave would leave womxn out of the workforce rather than include them. This again must be weighed against the advantage of having happier, more productive employees. Menstrual leave is one way to make us feel a little more than cogs in the machine, and feel cared for and valued in an organisation. Employees are happier at workplaces that are equitable, which also means that there is a higher chance of retention.
We understand that for organisations with limited resources, introducing such leaves may not be a possibility right now. However, there are multiple actions that such organisations can take towards starting to build an equitable space: sanitary products being available at their offices, work from home options, allowance to switch field work days, and many more. These build a way for building capacity internally to introduce menstrual leave policies.
Workplaces That Work For All
The conversation about menstrual leave, like any other conversation about the need for equity and feminism, is uncomfortable, but that’s a good thing — this discomfort means that we’re unlearning and breaking away from our conditioning.
Menstruation, pregnancy and rearing families are some of the barriers that force womxn to either give up working or struggle through it if they cannot. For others, the struggle may be different: not having a ramp or an elevator for people with disabilities, or minimal provisions to enable the visually impaired to work.
We have designed our workplaces, by default, for able bodied men. We struggle with the idea of a world in which we do not have to struggle to keep up or thrive at work, when in fact, our right to livelihood balances precariously on the right to access this work in the first place.
A workplace that works for all makes provisions for persons with disabilities, has hygienic bathrooms, creches for children, rest periods for menstruating people, and open, respectful conversations between employers and employees about their needs while they’re at work. We must start imagining these workplaces and start talking about it if we want to learn the meaning of equity, and if we want our workforce to be diverse and inclusive.
The conversation about menstrual leave should ultimately lead to a hard look at our design for workplaces, parks, roads and public spaces, and should demand that we design to ensure that everyone has access to their right to live a full, productive life.
About the author: Sanaya Patel is the Chief Legal Officer at One Future Collective.