Famous food delivery app Swiggy has come up with a monthly period time-off policy for its female delivery partners. By doing so, the app aims to increase diversity among its employees.
As per the new policy, Swiggy’s female delivery partners can take two paid days off per month if they wish to. Additionally, Swiggy guarantees that those who take the leave will be paid their monthly minimum wage without any conditions.
The company outlined some of its recent efforts in a blog post to create an environment that would empower women. They aim to encourage women to consider delivering as a viable alternative to other occupations.
“One of the most underreported reasons why many women don’t consider delivery to be a viable gig is discomfort from being out and about on the road while menstruating.” Mihir Shah, Vice President of Operations at Swiggy, wrote in a blog post on October 21st, “To help them deal with any menstruation-related issues, we’ve implemented a no-questions-asked, two-day paid monthly period time-off policy for all of our female delivery partners,” he explained.
Swiggy, in addition to their period time-off policy, is collaborating with electric mobility partners. The objective is to provide EV cycles and bikes for rent to women who do not have access to vehicles. Also, it has taken a number of steps like introducing ‘safe zones’ and better hygiene facilities to employ female delivery partners and ensure their safety on the job.
Swiggy’s first female delivery executives came on board in the year 2016. Swiggy has nearly 1,000 female delivery agents now, in the span of about five years. Subsequently, the changing and developing steps, this food-delivering company has taken has done a good job in making the community aware of the unsaid factors.
Companies That Offer Period Leave Other Than Swiggy
India is not the first country to consider period leave or time off for female staff. In fact, in many countries like Japan, South Korea and Italy, menstrual leave is part of women employees’ leave policy. Now in India, many companies are following the footsteps of these countries and allowing female employees to take a day or two off during menstruation:
- Culture Machine
- Mathrumbi
- Magzter
- Wet and Dry
- IndustryARC
- Zomato
- iVIPANAN
- Gozoop Online Pvt Ltd
- Horses Stable News
- FlyMyBiz
- Byju’s
