Commendable! Swiggy Allows 2-Day Paid Period Time Off For Women Delivery Partners

Food delivery giant Swiggy has introduced a two-day paid monthly period time-off for all its women delivery partners. When a woman delivery partner would opt to take time off, she would receive a minimum earnings guarantee. Swiggy, backed by SoftBank, has over 2,00,000 delivery partners, out of which 1,000 are women. The first woman delivery partner joined the company in 2016 in Pune.

An Industry-First Initiative

Business Standard quoted Mihir Shah, the vice president for operations at Swiggy, saying that discomfort due to menstruation while on the road is one of the most underreported reasons that inhibit women from considering delivery services as a viable option gig. He further added, "To support them through any menstruation-related challenges, we've introduced a no-questions-asked, two-day paid monthly period time-off policy for all our regular female delivery partners". The industry-first initiative, Shah said, enabled the delivery executives to take two-day offs during their monthly menstrual cycle.

99% Women Delivery Partners Under 45 Years

The vice-president wrote in a blog post that the company has been trying to build inclusivity and diversity across the platform with a commitment towards increasing the number of women delivery partners in Swiggy's delivery fleet since 2016 when the first woman delivery agent joined. According to the business news media, 99 per cent of women employees in Swiggy are under the age of 45, and 89 per cent of them have one or more children. Adding to that, 24 per cent of the women delivery partners are first-time earners, and 40 per cent of them contribute to the household needs of their families. About 42 per cent of women employees want to pay for their children's education or marriage, and 32 per cent want to pursue further studies.

One of the most prominent causes of fewer women taking up delivery service is that either they lack a motor vehicle or do not have a license at all. The Food delivery company handles the issue in two ways; one, it assures women partners that delivery by bicycle is a viable option for short-distance orders. Secondly, it is in talks with electric mobility partners to facilitate EV bikes and cycles.

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