The Supreme Court’s move to strike down a petition seeking uniform menstrual leave in the country, saying a national-level move might discourage employers from hiring women altogether, leaves individual states and organisations to step up on this front.
Patchwork of Progress
Karnataka recently became the first Indian state to introduce a statewide menstrual leave policy for women, affording them 12 days of annual leave. While other states such as Bihar, Odisha and Kerala also have menstrual leave policies in place, they do not apply across the board. Bihar and Odisha offer two days off for state government employees only, and Kerala for staff of industrial training and state-run higher education institutes, besides a 2% attendance relaxation for students of these institutes. Even Karnataka excludes domestic workers, daily wagers and gig workers, estimated to be around 6 million in number.
The Sikkim High Court also has a menstrual leave policy in place, allowing women in the registry two to three days off per month on a medical officer’s recommendation, while Sikkim University offers one day per month to female students and staff.
Private companies offering menstrual leave as part of their policies include Acer India, Larsen and Toubro, Zomato, Swiggy, and Byju’s, among others, offering paid menstrual leaves of 10-12 days a year. Zomato offers 10 days of paid menstrual leave annually. Swiggy offers two paid days per month for female delivery executives, and Byju’s also offers 12 days of paid leave annually for women employees.
Larsen & Toubro, Acer India as well as Orient Electrics also offer one day’s paid leave per month. Acer India calls this their ‘Matrika’ policy. Niharika Mohanty, VP, human resources, Eternal, speaking for Zomato and their annual 10-day policy, said, “All of our leave policies, including period leave, are designed so that people feel supported to balance their work, life and health in a way that works for them.”
NBFC SMFG India Credit introduced a menstrual leave policy in December 2025. “This initiative further strengthens the company’s commitment to fostering a workplace rooted in care, empathy, and meaningful inclusion,” the company said in a statement.
Jeetender Gupta, advocate on record for the Supreme Court, said a nationwide menstrual leave policy might experience initial hiccups, arguing that not all sectors would be able to roll out uniform menstrual leave. “The increased cost is to be considered. Moreover, many workplaces allow hybrid or work from home options, which also makes it difficult to integrate mandatory menstrual leaves into company policy.”
Advocate Geeta Jain Aggarwal, president of the All India Women Lawyers’ Association, agreed with the SC’s decision. In her opinion it is not ideal to treat menstrual leaves as a ‘blanket entitlement’. She opined that further untangling of nuances and loopholes is required, and menstrual leaves “must be available on demand based on the individual health and medical condition of a woman. A flexible, need-based approach would better serve dignity, autonomy and workplace efficiency.” She noted that not all women experience menstrual cycles uniformly, and making it a national mandate may not even be in accordance with what women need or want.
Founder and managing director of HR India Solutions, a human resources consultancy, Anil Das, however, feels a nationwide menstrual leave policy would be much beneficial. “Leaving menstrual leave to states allows flexibility but may lead to inconsistent implementation. This can create uneven employee experiences.” According to him, “In the absence of a national framework, employers will need to design policies carefully to support women without unintentionally creating stigma or hiring bias.” Although this is a tried and tested method with companies making their own period leave rules, as a long-term solution, Das said this might prove problematic.
Redefining Motherhood
On the other hand, the Supreme Court took a different route on maternity leave, striking down a rule that denies adoptive mothers with children aged above three any maternity leave. The court held that adoptive mothers would be afforded 12 weeks maternity leave after the child is handed over to them.
Recalling the amendment to the act in 2017, when maternity leave was nationwide extended from 12 weeks to 26 weeks, Das of HR India Solutions said, “The 2017 maternity leave extension was a positive step for retention and support to working mothers. However, since the full cost is borne by employers in India, unlike many countries where governments share the burden, it has made some smaller companies more cautious in hiring,” he noted. However, he welcomed the measure now to include adoptive mothers. “Extending benefits to adoptive mothers is a welcome move. It will strengthen workplace culture, but the cost factor will continue to be a concern unless there is some shared support mechanism,” he opined.
At Swiggy, maternal leave policy was updated earlier this year, calling it ‘Mom’-entum 2.0, which offers new mothers a year-long work from home allowance, post the 26-week period. Girish Menon, chief human resources officer at Swiggy, has said, “Over the past 11 years, women at Swiggy have led critical roles—driving impact and solving complex challenges. We understand that motherhood isn’t a single event, but a journey of evolving needs and challenges,” he said. This policy is also flexible with WFH and part time models and offers financial assistance for IVF and other needs as well.
Zomato also has a 26-week parental leave in place. “Parental leave can be taken flexibly over three years from the time of a child’s birth,” said Niharika Mohanty, VP, human resources, Eternal, speaking for Zomato. Parental leaves often includes paternity leave as well.
Aggarwal is appreciative of this move. “The expansion of maternity leave is a landmark reform that acknowledged the realities of women’s lives.” According to her mothers in the workforce do not receive adequate support. “It provided much-needed institutional support at a critical stage of motherhood, enabling women to continue their careers with dignity.” She, however, pointed to harsh reality: “In practice, I have also observed a degree of unconscious bias emerging in hiring and retention decisions, particularly in competitive sectors, including law firms.”
Last year, Hindustan Unilever became the first in India to implement a family leave policy considering kinship, foster care and other diverse familial arrangements. “The launch of the foster/kinship caregiver leave underscores our commitment to diversity and family well-being. By pioneering this initiative, we aim to create a supportive ecosystem that values all forms of caregiving and enables our employees to choose based on their needs, circumstances and context,” said Anuradha Razdan, executive director, HR & CHRO, Unilever South Asia.
Google and JP Morgan stand out as two global giants that offer 18 and 16 months of parental leave, as opposed to the largely adopted 26 weeks or six months policy, though many companies are increasingly extending parental leave to a year. In India, Pfizer implemented the policy in 2023. Juniper Networks, an AI software company, affords a 16-week paternity leave that can be taken in multiple segments, as compared to the norm of two or six weeks paternity leave.
Netflix was among the first ever companies to provide unlimited parental leave for the first year of the child’s life, having that in the language of their policy since 2014. However, the policy and the company’s implementations of it has been brought into question. In a statement in the Wall Street Journal last year, Netflix stated that employees prefer to take a maximum of eight months leave rather than the full twelve; while conversely employees reported layoffs shortly before or after they returned from their leaves, saying that availing the leave could be potentially harmful to their careers. Netflix’s policy remains the same to this date on paper.