L&T Chairman introduces one-day paid menstrual leave for women employees
L&T, which has a total workforce of 60,000 employees, employs approximately 5,000 women, accounting for 9% of its staff.
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In a pioneering move for major corporate houses and the engineering sector, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) chairman S. N. Subrahmanyan has announced a one-day paid menstrual leave per month for female employees. The announcement was made during Women’s Day celebrations at the company’s Powai office in Mumbai, where Subrahmanyan addressed 350 women employees.
L&T, which has a total workforce of 60,000 employees, employs approximately 5,000 women, accounting for 9% of its staff. However, the new policy applies only to the company’s core engineering and construction divisions, excluding its financial and technology services arms. These sectors already offer flexible working arrangements, such as remote work, unlike the office-based structure of L&T’s primary operations.
The decision follows recent controversy surrounding Subrahmanyan’s remarks advocating a 90-hour workweek. His earlier suggestion, which also included disappointment over not being able to introduce Sunday working hours, was met with criticism.
While details regarding the implementation of the menstrual leave policy remain unspecified—including its start date and whether it will be counted as additional paid leave—L&T’s move aligns with a growing trend among Indian organisations. Companies such as Zomato, Swiggy, and AU Small Finance Bank, as well as states like Bihar, Kerala, and Odisha, have already introduced similar policies to support women’s health. Though India currently lacks national legislation on menstrual leave, the Supreme Court last year recommended that the government consider introducing a policy on the matter.
