Reimagining Gender Justice at Workplace: The Case for Period Leave Policy in India
Keywords:
Period leave, Menstrual health, Gender equality at workplace, Breaking menstrual taboosAbstract
Gender justice for working women calls for recognition and supportive mechanisms anchored in their menstrual health needs. However, there is a lack of policy initiatives to accommodate the diverse bodily needs of working women during menstruation, who strive to perform their obligations. This study aims to outline Indian employers’ perspectives on menstrual health and period leave policy. The paper highlights a pertinent gender justice issue in the workplace which is not adequately addressed by the labour laws in India.
The study adopts a qualitative approach to understand organisational perspectives on period leave policies in India. This cross-sectional exploratory study was conducted with 102 sample units, and the research locale is India. Content analysis and descriptive statistics were used to summarise and draw generalisations from the data. Additionally, a chi-square test was performed using SPSS 20 to examine associations between categorical variables.
The findings reveal that while organisations acknowledge the psychological and physiological impacts of menstruation, negative societal attitudes continue to hinder the adequate integration of period leave into employee welfare approaches. Although period leave policies are seen as beneficial—enhancing women-friendly workplace, enabling women to manage menstrual discomfort, improving performance, and fostering workplace inclusivity—resistant views persist. These include concerns of potential misuse of leave and perceived imbalance to gender equality. The paper presents important implications for labour laws concerning the menstrual health of women employees.
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