In the past few days, a lot has been said regarding granting period leaves to female professionals and the need for proper menstrual leave policies in India after Smriti Irani argued against it and said that it is not a “handicap”. Besides the empathetic and sensitive people who argued in favour of period leaves, we got to witness how a vast section of our society is downright ignorant and apathetic to women’s issues, especially when it comes to their menstrual health.
However, the founder of Chai Sutta Bar, Anubhav Dubey, took to LinkedIn to share his opinion on period leaves and what he understood after he wanted to implement a period leave policy in his company a few months back.
He first approached the female employees at his office asking for their opinion and he found that while some women have comfortable periods, others suffer from incredibly painful cramps that can cause them to not work their best within the office. So it made sense to grant period leaves to those who really needed them.
“Around three months ago, we were incorporating ‘period leave’ at Chai Sutta Bar, and when we introduced this to the female members of our team, we had different responses. Some of them said that they did not need any period leave, while others said that they needed this leave because they felt unbearable cramps. The discussion was very healthy, as everyone respected the different experiences faced by different women in the room,” he wrote.
He went on to add, “I think every human body is not the same. There are some women whose bodies can bear this pain, and then there are these women who we have seen fainting because of the intensity of the pain. Both of them are justified. If we talk about the leave for this natural process in women, I feel it should be kept open. We have implemented this leave, understanding the importance of it for those who need it.”
Have a look at his full post here:
There were numerous people online who lauded this move. Instead of making such a decision themselves, the company management should discuss it with the people whose opinions are the ones that actually matter when it comes to period leaves – the female employees. Here’s what some of them wrote:
What are your views regarding period leaves? Tell us!