One Paid Day Off a Month: Karnataka’s Menstrual Leave Policy Gets Nod

In a landmark move, the Karnataka Cabinet on October 9, 2025, approved the Menstrual Leave Policy, 2025, making women employees across the state eligible for one paid leave every month.

With this decision, Karnataka has formally recognised the importance of menstrual health as a fundamental aspect of women’s rights and workplace welfare.

The policy follows a 2024 report by an 18-member panel set up to draft the ‘Right of Women to Menstrual Leave and Free Access to Menstrual Health Products Bill.’

Key Features

• Who’s Covered: Women working in government offices, garment units, IT companies, MNCs, and other private industries. Karnataka becomes the first state with a menstrual leave policy covering both public and private sectors.
• Leave Entitlement: Up to 12 menstrual leaves per year—an increase from the panel’s earlier proposal of six.

A Look at Recent Developments

Despite the absence of a legislative framework at the central level, several attempts to introduce reforms have been made over the years. However, private bills lapsed, court pleas saw little progress, and debates failed to translate into action.

In July 2024, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking directions to the union government, the states, and the union territories to implement menstrual leave policies under the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961. The Court instead suggested that the union government consider framing a model policy, while allowing states the freedom to act independently.

At the state level, however, some measures are already in place:

• Bihar: Two days per month for women government employees (since 1992).
• Kerala: Three days for state university students (2023); two days for trainees in industrial training institutes (ITIs) (2024).
• Odisha: One day per month for women government employees (2024).
• Sikkim: Two–three days per month for women employees in the High Court Registry (2024).

On the global front, a recent petition calls on the UK government to implement a statutory menstrual leave policy similar to the one passed in Portugal earlier this year. It seeks up to three days of paid leave per month for people with conditions such as endometriosis and adenomyosis. The government, however, responded that it has no plans to introduce such a policy.

In 2023, Spain became the first European country to offer paid menstrual leave, though, as per reports, few have made use of it since. Other countries with similar measures in place include Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam, Zambia, the Philippines, and Taiwan.

Looking Ahead

The new policy marks a progressive step forward, though finer details are awaited. Questions around confidentiality, workplace bias, and the exclusion of unorganised sector workers remain, and their resolution will likely shape the next phase of this reform.