L&T announces 1-day paid menstrual leave for women employees
What's the story
In a progressive move, engineering and construction giant Larsen& Toubro (L&T) has announced a one-day menstrual leave policy for its female employees.
The announcement was made by Chairman and Managing Director S N Subrahmanyan during Women's Day celebrations at the company's Powai office in Mumbai.
The pioneering policy will benefit around 5,000 female workers, who comprise 9% of L&T's 60,000-strong workforce.
Division-specific
Policy applies only to core divisions
The menstrual leave policy will only be applicable to L&T's core engineering and construction divisions.
It does not extend to the company's financial and technology subsidiaries, which already offer work-from-home and flexible arrangements.
The specifics of the implementation are yet to be clarified, including whether this will be an additional paid leave or part of existing entitlements for female employees.
Policy expansion
Menstrual leave policies gaining traction in India
While there's no national law for menstrual leave in India, a few states and companies have started adopting similar measures.
Odisha was the first state to introduce a one-day menstrual leave policy for government and private-sector employees.
Karnataka is also mulling a bill that proposes six days of paid menstrual leave every year, along with free access to menstrual health products.
Backlash
Chairman's controversial 90-hour workweek remark
The announcement of the menstrual leave policy comes after Subrahmanyan faced severe backlash for his comments pushing for a 90-hour work week.
His remarks included a controversial quip, "What do you do sitting at home? How long can you stare at your wife?"
The comments drew widespread criticism on social media and among industry professionals.
L&T's HR department tried clarifying his remarks, saying they were taken out of context and not intended as a directive.
Concerns
Subrahmanyan's views on labor shortages
Subrahmanyan has also voiced concerns over labor shortages in the construction sector, blaming them on government welfare schemes that he believes have made workers reluctant to move.
His comments have been widely criticized, with some deeming them "misleading, insulting, and demoralizing" to India's workforce.
Despite the controversies, L&T's shift toward menstrual leave indicates an evolving corporate mindset toward employee welfare.