Paid menstrual leave: Rethinking period leave as workplace equity

On March 13, 2026, the Chief Justice of India dismissed a petition for mandatory menstrual leave, cautioning that it could inadvertently hinder female hiring. "The moment you say it is compulsory in law, nobody will give women jobs," the CJI noted. While rejecting the legal mandate, the bench maintained that the government evaluate the issue and consider developing a uniform policy.

This debate pivots around balancing women’s rights with potential employer bias, moving from litigation toward government-led policy development.

Menstruation is a precursor to motherhood, involving monthly shedding of the uterine lining – should pregnancy not occur. Prostaglandins signal uterine contractions that expel this lining, similar to the way labour is induced. But despite being a healthy biological function, menstruation takes a toll on many women, ranging from mild discomfort to dysmenorrhoea (cramping) that often demands bed rest, menorrhagia (heavy bleeding) that can exacerbate anaemia and exhaustion, diminishing cognitive focus, and migraines and insomnia triggered by hormonal fluctuations.

As important is the stigma and shame that menstruation is mired in, branded by male-centric myths as "ritual impurity" or "unhygienic toxic waste." This pathologises the female body and justifies women’s socio-economic, religious and political exclusion, with adverse impacts on them.

Not just a health issue, but a mandate for gender justice

Thousands of women migrating from drought-prone western Maharashtra to "sugar-belt" districts for cane harvesting undergo hysterectomies because menstruation hinders the work they need. Missing even a day leads to wage cuts or job loss. Coupled with gruelling hours and abysmal sanitation, poor hygiene triggers reproductive tract infections, driving many to seek surgeries without fully understanding the long-term health consequences.

Government records indicate over 4,056 hysterectomies were performed over three years in Beed alone, though not all involved sugarcane cutters. This underscores the desperate trade-off between reproductive health and economic survival for informal migrant workers in India’s agricultural sector.

In non-enabling workplaces without supportive policies and adequate infrastructure - that view periods as shameful or impure - women bear a heavy emotional burden of concealing their status and pain and appearing fit to work. This may lead to exiting employment, creating a leaking pipeline in the workforce.

Furthermore, about 23 million girls in India reportedly drop out of school each year on reaching menstruation – largely because of inadequate sanitation, sanitary products and stigma, while absenteeism among them is also high.

Responding to a writ petition by social worker Dr Jaya Thakur, the Supreme Court of India, on January 26, 2026, directed the Union Government and all States to provide free sanitary napkins and separate toilets for all girl students. Issuing a "continuing mandamus" to ensure compliance, the Court ruled that managing menstruation in dignified conditions is essential to the fundamental Right to Life and Dignity (Article 21).

The judgement emphasised that inadequate infrastructure causing school absenteeism or withdrawal violates the Right to Education (Article 21A) and the Right to Education Act, 2009.

Furthermore, the Court championed substantive equality, arguing that treating everyone identically without addressing the distinct biological needs of menstruating individuals is not true equality.

Substantive equality requires policy and practice to actively recognise these needs, rectifying historical discrimination and indignity. This landmark ruling frames menstrual hygiene not merely as a health issue, but as a core constitutional mandate for gender justice.

The public interest litigation petition on mandatory nationwide menstrual leave in workspaces is largely aligned with the apex court judgement’s normative and legal parameters. It nevertheless faces real and perceived challenges to women being hired for jobs.

A move that can help women and workplaces

Pairing value-based constitutional justifications with efficiency-based arguments is imperative. Flipping the narrative on period leave as lost productivity, studies show that absenteeism accounts for fewer days of lost productivity annually than presenteeism– working while unwell.

Also, by ensuring work through pain and mental discomfort, employers pay a full salary for reduced cognitive and physical productivity and increased exhaustion, risking long-term health. In contrast, paid period leave reconfigures productivity and regenerates human capacity.

This shift transforms paid menstrual leave from a perceived "cost" into a strategic investment in short-and long-term human capital, protecting women and benefitting employers.

Replacing workers costs an employer about 33% of an employee’s annual salary. If a lack of menstrual support causes women to give up their jobs or underperform and get fired, the employer loses much more economically than they would by providing some days of paid period leave yearly.

Also, designing it as an employer-government cost-shared measure or integrating it fully into existing health-wellbeing insurance schemes would likely take the edge off employers’ ‘women-hiring fear,’ because of costs involved.

While paid period leave is undoubtedly an equity measure aimed at ensuring substantive equality, framing it and placing it under the broad rubric of health and well-being measures in “caring workplaces” could reduce employer resistance, attract talent of all genders, and benefit enterprises.

Key impact metrics for Indian companies showed that inclusive workplaces with female retention and health and well-being measures had the strongest positive impact on revenue growth and productivity gains due to reduced turnover and higher employee engagement.

Finally, in an encouraging move recently, the Maharashtra State Commission for Women convened a meeting of gender advocates, medical professionals and labour representatives on paid menstrual leave.

The consultation supported a menstrual leave policy that would go beyond a few days of leave. It called for a comprehensive framework addressing all aspects of menstrual health – free sanitary pads, disposal mechanisms, clean toilets, and awareness campaigns to erase stigma.

It supported a nuanced and inclusive approach to the issue that extended these protections to marginalised groups, including unorganised-sector workers and trans and non-binary people who menstruate.

Dr Jean D’Cunha, formerly with UN Women, is internationally acknowledged on gender equality and women’s rights, including on climate and migration. She currently advises the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) and the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conference (FABC) on COP 30 implementation.