Food aggregator and delivery website Zomato on Saturday announced that it has introduced a period leaves for their menstruating employees, including trans employees. In a note issued on Saturday, Zomato's founder and CEO, Deepinder stated, “Zomato understands that men and women are born with different biological realities. It is our job to make sure that we make room for our biological needs, while not lowering the bar for the quality of our work and the impact that we create.”
Menstruating employees can avail of one period leave for each menstrual cycle, and are entitled to a total of 10 days per year as period leaves.
"Why 10? Most women have 14 menstrual cycles in a year. Adjusting for the probability of you having your periods on a weekend, you can now rightfully avail 10 extra leaves compared to men," the company said in a blog post.
The employees should feel free to tell people on internal groups or emails if they need period leaves, said the company.
“There shouldn’t be any shame or stigma attached to applying for a period leave. You should feel free to tell people on internal groups, or emails that you are on your period leave for the day,” the company note said.
However, the company also stressed not to abuse these leaves or use them as a crutch to take time out for other pending tasks.
“These leaves should only be availed if you are really unable to attend to work. Do not abuse these leaves or use them as a crutch to take time out for other pending tasks,” the note added.
In case employees face any unnecessary harassment, or distasteful comments if they apply for a period leave, they have been advised to report them to the prevention of sexual harassment (POSH) team.
“A note for men – our female colleagues expressing that they are on their period leave shouldn’t be uncomfortable for us. This is a part of life, and while we don’t fully understand what women go through, we need to trust them when they say they need to rest this out. I know that menstrual cramps are very painful for a lot of women – and we have to support them through it if we want to build a truly collaborative culture at Zomato,” the note by the founder added.