Period Leave Announced for Women in a Kolkata-Based Company as a New Year Gift, Is It Necessary?

This year has seen a lot of discussions on women's issues. Earlier tabooed topics like menstruation and sexual harassment were broadly discussed on public platforms. In all the wake of women's issues, a digital media company based in Kolkata has given its women a gift of one-day period leave. A newly started company, FlyMyBiz has introduced a one-day menstrual leave for its women employees from the year 2019. How to Stop Period Cramps? 5 Mistakes That Are Making Them Worse During Your Menstruation.

Samyo Datta, the founder-CEO of FlyMyBiz, said in an Indian Express report, "All the women employees in my company will get one extra leave every month. This means, starting from January 2019, they will have twelve holidays as their period leaves in addition to their other holidays." He gives preference to employee satisfaction and he believes this move will make his women employees happier. This is the third company in the country who has introduced a period-leave. Two other companies from Mumbai have this initiative.

There are about 12 female employees in the company and all of them have happily welcomed the move and so have the males. "The male employees too have equally welcomed the initiative of the firm," said Datta. He says this is an attempt of the company to stand by their women on an issue that is still very tabooed. "We all know how much mental and physical pain women go through during this phase. Yet nobody comes forward to ease it a bit for them," he continued. Best & Worst Foods to Eat During Periods: How to Avoid Mood Swings and Menstrual Cramps.

While this may seem like a good initiative for many women out there, personally I think a one-day leave as period leave just makes it a reason for other women out there to seek leave. Yes, there would be some women who go through extreme pain and stress on the first day of their period and they deserve every bit of that leave. But then it still portrays menstruation as a weakness, rather than strength. Today, every other woman who cannot avail a 'period' leave is still making that effort to reach her workplace and continue working like any other employee. For someone who is not able to work at all, can definitely take their sick leaves. But it cannot be considered as a need of the hour for women. We are happy bleeding and it is our strength, a day's off won't make it any lesser.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 28, 2018 06:55 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).