Flow Forward

Enhancing Workplace Support with Menstrual Leave Support

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-795-8_4How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Menstrual Leave; Labour Welfare; Social Security

Abstract

The discourse on menstrual leave in India has gained renewed visibility amid evolving conversations on workplace equity, dignity, and inclusive labour governance. This paper critically examines menstrual leave as a labour rights issue rather than a discretionary welfare measure, situating it within India’s constitutional mandate and contemporary labour law architecture. Drawing upon Articles 14, 15(3), 39, and 42 of the Constitution, the study argues that substantive equality in employment necessitates recognition of biological realities that disproportionately affect menstruating individuals. The new labour codes enacted and enforced in India, particularly on concerns regarding social security and occupational safety, put emphasis on humane working conditions and other broad traditional aspects of social protection. The 2020 labour codes remain silent on the issue of menstruation and lack statutory inclusion to give way to other streams of lawmaking, like through delegated legislation. Silence of hard law has birthed fragmented state practices, discretion of employers and nonbinding institutional policies, all of which is a lacuna in public policy rather than a need for explicit statutory provisions. By comparing the evolution of welfare legislations in this context and doctrinally analyzing public policy through popular narrative produced by individuals and institutions, this paper explores developments within the country alongside initiatives taken by other state and non-state actors, including global models on menstrual leave or a policy thereon from other jurisdictions, Japan, Spain and South Korea, per se. A broader study from different legal systems has allowed this paper to evaluate how menstrual leave could be integrated into labour frameworks and other means of social security. This paper contends that such leaves can be accommodated normatively within the age-old paradigm linked with proper physical and mental well-being without undermining gender equality or upholding discriminatory, unequal or exclusionary gendered practices. Menstrual health accommodations in certain sectors of employment through delegated legislation, standing orders and welfare schemes under the new labour regime of India may align Indian labour policy with the constitutional mandate of promoting menstrual health by upholding dignity, equity and inclusive workforce participation. This paper shall not attempt to draw conclusions on which particular sectors should such policy affect as it is assumed that for such study empirical data would be required. This paper examines the absence of menstrual leave within India’s labour law framework, analyses constitutional and comparative legal developments, and proposes welfare-oriented menstrual health accommodations, while excluding empirical determination of sectors requiring mandatory implementation.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Suchir Anand
AU  - Manasvi Anand
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/08
TI  - Flow Forward
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Advancing Economics (ICAE): Redefining Growth: Integrating Economy Society and Sustainability for a Resilient Future (ICAE 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 39
EP  - 51
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-795-8_4
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-795-8_4
ID  - Anand2026
ER  -