Zomato introduces 10 days of 'period leave' for employees to build inclusive work culture

Online food ordering platform Zomato on Saturday anunced that it is introducing ten days ‘period leaves’ for all women including trans employees to build a more inclusive work culture in its organisation. Company's CEO Deepinder Goyal said move is to 'foster a culture of trust, truth and acceptance'.

“At Zomato, we want to foster a culture of trust, truth and acceptance. Starting today, all women (including trans people) at Zomato can avail up to 10 days of period leaves in a year,” Goyal said in a blog post.

Goyal furr said re 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 day," he said.

In a te for male employees in his blog, Goyal said, “Our female colleagues expressing that y are on ir 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 m when y say y need to rest this out."

"I kw that menstrual cramps are very painful for a lot of women – and we have to support m through it if we want to build a truly collaborative culture at Zomato," said Goyal.

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Here's full-text of Goyal's email:

Ladies,

How many times have you had to send a mess to your team saying “unwell today – taking day off” and having to answer concerned questions about your health with a feeble “stomach upset / weakness etc.” when you really wanted to say “on my period, terrible cramps – need a heating pad, some chocolate and a lot of green tea (or something stronger) so I’m taking day off”?

• At Zomato, we want to foster a culture of trust, truth and acceptance. Starting today, all women (including trans people) at Zomato can avail up to 10 days of period leaves in a year.
• Why 10? Most women have ~14 menstrual cycles in a year. Adjusting for probability of you having your periods on a weekend, you can w rightfully avail 10 extra leaves compared to men
• You can only take one period leave for each menstrual cycle
• 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 t lowering bar for quality of our work and impact that we create
• re 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 day
• In case you face any unnecessary harassment, or distasteful comments from men or women about fact that you applied for a period leave, or that you are vocal about it, please report m to speakup@zomato.com – our prevention of sexual harassment (POSH) team will quickly spring into action

While we are introducing this leave to build a more inclusive work culture, a word of necessary advice – 

• se leaves should only be availed if you are really unable to attend to work 
• If you do need to take day off, please apply for leave on HR portal, communicate to your team that you will be unavailable, reschedule your meetings and proactively communicate if deadlines are getting impacted
• Do t abuse se leaves or use m as a crutch to take time out for or pending tasks 
• Take care of yourself – regular focus on fitness and diet has a positive impact on every bit of your physical and mental health

A te for men – our female colleagues expressing that y are on ir 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 m when y say y need to rest this out. I kw that menstrual cramps are very painful for a lot of women – and we have to support m through it if we want to build a truly collaborative culture at Zomato.

Stay calm, and strong.
Deepinder

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