In August, Zomato announced a 10-day period leave policy for its menstruating employees. This move received loud appreciation but it also ignited a long-standing debate on menstruation, which reflected the still-existing taboos around it. While the whole idea of period leave is to make the workspace more inclusive for menstruators, people have misinterpreted it and already tagged it to be a ‘discriminatory’ policy.
Periods And Pain
For most people, periods have always been all about abdominal pain, cramps, nausea, and body ache. In the first two days, they undergo debilitating pain, excessive blood flow and not having enough energy to sit for even an hour, let alone leave the fact that they have to travel for hours and change from one transport to another to reach their office.
“I also struggle with clots, which meant that my periods were not free-flowing. Once in a while, I end up vomiting. I also bleed for almost a week. All this took a toll on my mental health,” a woman shared her period experience with TOI.
Some women with PCOS/PCOD have excessive blood flow which could lead to extreme weakness. A few of my friends were anaemic and even got hospitalized because of the weakness during their periods.
Productivity During Periods
A large debate sprung out around the productivity of women during periods and would this leave even be good for their company. Well, studies have shown that giving the workers more time off from work could increase their productivity. Giving a day off from work to relax and self-care can make them more energized for the next day’s work.
Apart from that, companies can let employees work from home, as an alternative to the period leave. This could save menstruators the hours of travel and an uncomfortable environment in the workplace. They can then change their routine according to the work from home schedule. They can wake up a little late, utilising their time that went in travel into light yoga which would soothe their muscles. Rather than having to wear formal clothing, they can slip into comfortable wear and work while sipping a cup of tea!
Many companies have come up with another method to make the workplace more inclusive for women during their periods. They have ‘well-being rooms’ for their employees to rest when they are not feeling good. They have even made their washrooms stocked with hot water bags, painkillers and other menstrual hygiene products. They are even providing flexibility to their staff members to rearrange their working days during their periods.
Therefore, the notion of productivity should not be related to gender. Some particular gender should not be targeted into being less productive because of a biological process they undergo every month. Instead, we should try making the environment of the workplace more period-friendly. All this combined together, would even make the business flourish.
Maternity Leave And Period Leave Are Different
Motherhood has always been something that one keeps on a pedestal but periods, which is the baseline of motherhood is always vilified. It is because of this uncomfortable air around the topic of menstruation, that women hesitate and feel disgusted in disclosing their period cycle in the workplace. Women, because of the fear of being discriminated against in salary raise and promotion, often don’t opt for leave no matter how worse their situation during periods is.
Conclusion
Life has always been tough for women. We never have received anything on a silver platter. One can trace down the history, be it the right to vote, access to education, equal wage or section in the property, etc, we have always had a tough time and fought a little too hard to achieve even a mere statue of equality. Same goes with the period leave, an excellent move but would need proper implementation.
We need to make the environment of the workplace ‘period-friendly’ for women, where they can share their concerns and seek help openly if needed. We need people to understand that period is a biological process that menstruators never asked for, therefore it is our responsibility to not let it turn into another thing to discriminate against someone.