The Conundrum of Period Leaves
(as introduced by Zomato). Author: Ria Sahay
It was last month when Zomato announced the much controversial & talked-about decision to organizationally accept, acknowledge & permit period leaves.
The main intent behind this was to promote a more inclusive work culture, respect the biological needs of women & remove the stigma attached to applying openly for these leaves. However, it also led to a heated argument on social media platforms.
All of us witnessed the debate around this, and some women came out strongly against this decision calling it condescending or patronizing.
This specific segment of the populace got offended by the leave policy, and declared that this may be seen as a handicap for women thereby putting working women behind in the “struggle for equality,” especially equal pay for work.
They felt the policy was unfair in its treatment for men raising the question of why should only women get 10 extra leaves annually?
While reading all this quietly, sipping my coffee, on the desk where my thoughts meander through the day, I couldn’t help myself from journalism them below.
As a working woman for over a decade & one who has fainted in all peculiar places, from a Starbucks in Hong kong to the back of a taxi in Singapore to even a historical site as Humayun’s Tomb, something felt very ‘right’ to me about this policy.
After almost 11 years, it feels that someone understands that it is draining not only biologically but also mentally for most working women, who have to report to work in the same ill-health, popping medicines, which may easily take 4–5 hours to act on them.
I welcome this policy & hope for more organizations to include it based on the following thoughts -
1.) This leave is a ‘choice’ which women may or may not avail depending on their health that day.
2.) Women who consciously take this leave, will certainly balance it with other leaves, as all working women are conscious of their work responsibilities & associated expectations.
3.) This policy is for ensuring ‘equity’ and not ‘equality.’ The difference between both should be understood & respected. Equity ensures that resources are distributed proportionally, as per needs, to achieve a fair outcome. This policy ensures equity prevails and women who genuinely have ill-health, should take a break.
4.) Out of almost 264 workdays a year (considering 22 working days in a month), if women take 10 annual leaves, does this amount to a huge loss in their work responsibilities? Does this impact their key KPI’s? Does this impact the team’s performance? And most importantly does it impact the organization’s business causing an irreparable loss?
5.) While women team members were backups for our male colleagues when they took their leaves, is it too much to ask for them to back us up once a month? The support is only required for secondary responsibilities, the primary ones will still be handled by women when they are back to work.
6.) And last but not the least, does it reduce our growth opportunities in the organizations we work for? If yes, do we still want to work for such organizations where 254 days of hard work are ignored or adversely impacted due to 10 additional leaves?
In summary, this is a delayed, yet progressive policy introduced by Zomato. These challenging times of Covid-19 have taught us to be sensitive to the differing needs of those around us, and the core of empathy is much beyond gender specific debates.
I welcome the policy with open arms as in future, I will not worry about the diminished leaves, as I will be confident that my organization and most importantly my team has my back :)
Author: Ria Sahay
Published on RethinkingUX
