Period of change

How would you react if all female employees in your workplace were suddenly granted a monthly menstrual leave? The answer is in the video by Culture Machine that became the first Indian company to introduce a monthly ‘First day of Period’ (FoP) leave and recorded the reactions of several female employees of the firm. The company employs 75 female employees and the policy has been welcomed by all.

A working woman has a monthly battle to fight — menstrual pain and pre-menstrual syndrome. From mild discomfort to mood swings to debilitating pain, the experiences vary in each case. But very few countries in the world acknowledge this fact and include it in their work culture. Demand for menstrual leave started in Japan in the 1920s and countries such as Taiwan, South Korea and Indonesia have different policies for menstrual leave.

In the video by Culture Machine, women also share how it becomes difficult to explain to male bosses what they want a leave for, how even getting up from a chair could feel like a huge task, how this affects the quality of work and how this policy would make a huge difference in their lives.

Devleena S. Majumder from the company says, “Culture Machine’s Blush, a women-centric channel, talks about a myriad of themes with respect to women empowerment and upliftment, so I think it was time we started practicing what we preached. The idea sparked when one of our employees was having a really bad day due to cramps and that is when we thought why not take period pain seriously and speak up for women experiencing it.”

However, the first day of periods has been declared an optional day off as not all women experience this. “In most cases, the first day has maximum discomfort and by the second day the body gets accustomed to the cycle. Women spend up to 10 days a month dealing with period-related changes to their body.

It is a natural and an inevitable bodily process, yet we are conditioned to feel embarrassed of our periods. Due to a load of societal fear and shame we are still expected to keep our periods quiet, and out of sight,” she adds.

While a lot of women are blamed of using their menstrual periods as an excuse, a recent study has also proved that menstrual pain can feel ‘almost as bad as a heart attack’. Poonam Tyagi from NGO Setu says, “I have seen some of my colleagues suffer in pain to the extent that they couldn’t even get up. Personally, I never suffered from this pain. This is a welcome change for people who find it very difficult during those days. If more companies plan to adopt this policy, then I hope it doesn’t stop them from hiring female employees. There are already plenty of companies that avoid hiring young women out of the fear that women might get married and leave the city, or might go on a sabbatical due to pregnancy, so they never invest in a woman employee. I hope ‘First day of period’ leave doesn’t add to that attitude. I hope this doesn’t work against women because if a woman is in pain, she is in pain and she cannot come. I also hope women who do not experience this, do not exploit this option but for most women the first day is very crucial.” 

While recognising this issue is important, menstrual leave also came under fire in South Korea where men saw it as a form of discrimination, despite the workplace being male-dominated in South Korea. So will FOP leave impact productivity and spark such debates in India too? Devleena says, “Productivity is just a state of mind. In the digital age and time one can be productive sitting anywhere in any part of the globe. So the idea here is to make the work environment more conducive for women.”

Culture Machine already has an existing work from home option, “But we need to acknowledge the fact that sometimes working from home isn’t a comfortable option either during the menstrual cycle. The whole purpose of working from home in this case is then lost,” she adds.

Founder of Shecup, Ashish Malani agrees. He says, “There are women who attend to their duties even during menstruation. I believe that women who suffer from pain during periods, especially women in the service industry who have to deal with people, should be given such leaves. It will definitely add to the productivity because people will come back to work feeling better. Anyways a person who is in pain and is coming to work can prove detrimental and unproductive. So if one is to ask me, it is a welcome change and a great initiative. At the same time there has to be proper awareness about it. The companies should also provide better facilities in their toilets. Things can be made easier with some facilities as well,” adding, “I have seen my women colleagues abroad, the difference I noticed is that people are really open and casual about it, especially in Europe. Of course they also have their own set of problems but it is not as regressive as it is in India.”

Culture Machine has also started an online petition on Change.org appealing to the Ministry of Women and Child Development and the Ministry of Human Resource Development that FOP leave be made available to all women in the country. “As we move towards a more progressive and inclusive work space, I think it’s high time that new age companies start talking about menstruation and treat this as a natural process. I hope to see more companies support and adopt the initiative, as all women rightly deserve this. I would also like to add we have crossed the 20,000 petitions milestone signed on Change.org and touched about a million people till now,” concludes Devleena.