Dear all, On one of the WA groups of HR, the Administrator of the group, Mr. Rajaram Thorve, has raised the topic for discussion on Introduction of Menstrual Leave. He has raised the following questions:
Q. 1 Should PERIOD LEAVE be given to female employees by all organizations?
Q. 2 Is it not awkward to keep track of menstruation cycles as it is their privacy issue?
Q. 3 Who will maintain the record to be able to give this leave as there are possibilities of misuse of this leave?
Q. 4 Is it fair to give special benefits/treatment when we talk about equality?
Q. 5 Doesn't it impact on weakening them by asking/giving special benefits/treatment?
Q. 6 Should sanitary pads and medication be welcome in place of PERIOD LEAVE?
I have given replies to the questions. These are as below:
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Dear Mr. Rajaram Thorve, My replies to your questions are given below.
Q. 1 Should PERIOD LEAVE be given to female employees by all organizations?
Reply: - Please note the following:
a) If you browse the internet, you will find that two companies have already introduced menstrual leave in their companies. One is Culture Machine from Mumbai and another is a digital marketing organization called Gozoop.
b) The Menstruation Benefit Bill has been tabled by a private member, Ninong Ering. For the last couple of years, India's parliament has been functioning sketchily or patchily. Passing regular bills approved by the union council of ministers itself is a challenge. Against this backdrop, we do not know when the private bill will be taken up for discussion or whether it will be taken up for discussion at all.
c) India's female workforce participation is the lowest in the world.
d) Females were only 25.8% of the workforce in India in FY16.
e) During the menstrual cycle, a few women suffer badly whereas for a few others, it is a manageable day.
Q. 2 Is it not awkward to keep track of menstruation cycles as it is their privacy issue?
Q. 3 Who will maintain the record to be able to give this leave as there are possibilities of misuse of this leave?
Reply: - Reply to both questions is clubbed together. Awkward or otherwise, any leave has to be tracked and this leave is no exception. Secondly, HR maintains records of all types of leave and this leave will be no exception. Yes, there is a possibility of misuse. However, few companies provide medical leave to their employees. Is there not a misuse of this leave? The women who do not suffer severely will also prefer sitting at home.
Q. 4 Is it fair to give special benefits/treatment when we talk about equality?
Q. 5 Doesn't it impact on weakening them by asking/giving special benefits/treatment?
Reply: - Reply to both questions is clubbed together. It should be left to the women to decide whether they would like to have this kind of benefit. Nevertheless, this type of leave facility is extended because nature is unfavorable to the womenfolk as they undergo a cycle of pain each month. Menstrual leave is being proposed to redress nature's imbalance. Nature's imbalance or otherwise, women sportspersons continue with their sports practice even during these days. It remains to be seen how they manage their participation in sports events or tournaments.
One pertinent question arises: votaries of this leave, whether they are men or women, how many of them grant this leave to their maid(s)? While batting for this leave, they can introduce this leave to their maids on their own. There are cases wherein few women frown even at the weekly offs of their maids. Therefore, the extension of this leave is far-fetched.
Q. 6 Should sanitary pads and medication be welcome in place of PERIOD LEAVE?
Reply: - There are agencies that install machines that dispense sanitary pads when a coin or a note is inserted. These machines are installed in women's toilets. Secondly, since not all women suffer because of the pain, medical education may be given to the selected few on how to keep this monthly challenge under check.
Additional comments: - These are as below:
Cost Implications: - Before extending this leave, it is important to study cost implications. Suppose an average company has a workforce of 250 persons. Of these, suppose 40% or 100 are women. Suppose a day's menstrual leave per month is granted to each woman. Therefore, each woman will avail of 12 days or 100 women will avail of 1,200 days leave in a year. Assuming that each month has 26 working days, it can be said that 1,200/26 = 46.15 months are consumed because of this leave. 46.15 month's salary is approximately 4 year's salary of a woman. How many companies can afford this? Will this leave work contrary to the employment of women at work?
Final Comments: - Notwithstanding the above calculation, it is a plain truth that today's organizations have lean manpower. Against this backdrop, sparing even a day is difficult. There are organizations wherein taking regular leave itself is a challenge. Extending this type of leave is difficult in retail companies, airlines, hospitals, etc. It is possible to provide this leave in large factories like garment factories where work is repetitive and the women workforce is large. In IT companies where the work is project-based, it is possible to extend this leave. If because of this leave, menfolk are required to work extra, it could demotivate them. How to avoid this demotivation arising out of extra work is something that employers have to think well in advance.
Who needs this leave most?: - Women working as farm laborers, construction workers do arduous jobs. They need this leave most. However, the problem with them is that they all are perennially casual workers. Whatever the reason might be, when a worker absents from her work, her salary is deducted. Physical pain notwithstanding, to avoid salary deduction, these women report for duty. Let us think more about them!
Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar
Q. 1 Should PERIOD LEAVE be given to female employees by all organizations?
Q. 2 Is it not awkward to keep track of menstruation cycles as it is their privacy issue?
Q. 3 Who will maintain the record to be able to give this leave as there are possibilities of misuse of this leave?
Q. 4 Is it fair to give special benefits/treatment when we talk about equality?
Q. 5 Doesn't it impact on weakening them by asking/giving special benefits/treatment?
Q. 6 Should sanitary pads and medication be welcome in place of PERIOD LEAVE?
I have given replies to the questions. These are as below:
+++++
Dear Mr. Rajaram Thorve, My replies to your questions are given below.
Q. 1 Should PERIOD LEAVE be given to female employees by all organizations?
Reply: - Please note the following:
a) If you browse the internet, you will find that two companies have already introduced menstrual leave in their companies. One is Culture Machine from Mumbai and another is a digital marketing organization called Gozoop.
b) The Menstruation Benefit Bill has been tabled by a private member, Ninong Ering. For the last couple of years, India's parliament has been functioning sketchily or patchily. Passing regular bills approved by the union council of ministers itself is a challenge. Against this backdrop, we do not know when the private bill will be taken up for discussion or whether it will be taken up for discussion at all.
c) India's female workforce participation is the lowest in the world.
d) Females were only 25.8% of the workforce in India in FY16.
e) During the menstrual cycle, a few women suffer badly whereas for a few others, it is a manageable day.
Q. 2 Is it not awkward to keep track of menstruation cycles as it is their privacy issue?
Q. 3 Who will maintain the record to be able to give this leave as there are possibilities of misuse of this leave?
Reply: - Reply to both questions is clubbed together. Awkward or otherwise, any leave has to be tracked and this leave is no exception. Secondly, HR maintains records of all types of leave and this leave will be no exception. Yes, there is a possibility of misuse. However, few companies provide medical leave to their employees. Is there not a misuse of this leave? The women who do not suffer severely will also prefer sitting at home.
Q. 4 Is it fair to give special benefits/treatment when we talk about equality?
Q. 5 Doesn't it impact on weakening them by asking/giving special benefits/treatment?
Reply: - Reply to both questions is clubbed together. It should be left to the women to decide whether they would like to have this kind of benefit. Nevertheless, this type of leave facility is extended because nature is unfavorable to the womenfolk as they undergo a cycle of pain each month. Menstrual leave is being proposed to redress nature's imbalance. Nature's imbalance or otherwise, women sportspersons continue with their sports practice even during these days. It remains to be seen how they manage their participation in sports events or tournaments.
One pertinent question arises: votaries of this leave, whether they are men or women, how many of them grant this leave to their maid(s)? While batting for this leave, they can introduce this leave to their maids on their own. There are cases wherein few women frown even at the weekly offs of their maids. Therefore, the extension of this leave is far-fetched.
Q. 6 Should sanitary pads and medication be welcome in place of PERIOD LEAVE?
Reply: - There are agencies that install machines that dispense sanitary pads when a coin or a note is inserted. These machines are installed in women's toilets. Secondly, since not all women suffer because of the pain, medical education may be given to the selected few on how to keep this monthly challenge under check.
Additional comments: - These are as below:
Cost Implications: - Before extending this leave, it is important to study cost implications. Suppose an average company has a workforce of 250 persons. Of these, suppose 40% or 100 are women. Suppose a day's menstrual leave per month is granted to each woman. Therefore, each woman will avail of 12 days or 100 women will avail of 1,200 days leave in a year. Assuming that each month has 26 working days, it can be said that 1,200/26 = 46.15 months are consumed because of this leave. 46.15 month's salary is approximately 4 year's salary of a woman. How many companies can afford this? Will this leave work contrary to the employment of women at work?
Final Comments: - Notwithstanding the above calculation, it is a plain truth that today's organizations have lean manpower. Against this backdrop, sparing even a day is difficult. There are organizations wherein taking regular leave itself is a challenge. Extending this type of leave is difficult in retail companies, airlines, hospitals, etc. It is possible to provide this leave in large factories like garment factories where work is repetitive and the women workforce is large. In IT companies where the work is project-based, it is possible to extend this leave. If because of this leave, menfolk are required to work extra, it could demotivate them. How to avoid this demotivation arising out of extra work is something that employers have to think well in advance.
Who needs this leave most?: - Women working as farm laborers, construction workers do arduous jobs. They need this leave most. However, the problem with them is that they all are perennially casual workers. Whatever the reason might be, when a worker absents from her work, her salary is deducted. Physical pain notwithstanding, to avoid salary deduction, these women report for duty. Let us think more about them!
Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar