Swiggy to roll out 2-day paid monthly period time-off for women delivery partners

Swiggy's female delivery partners have the option of taking two days of paid time off each month. Those who choose the monthly paid time off will be guaranteed a minimum wage.

Team Newsable

New Delhi, First Published Oct 22, 2021, 4:37 PM IST | Last Updated Oct 22, 2021, 4:37 PM IST

Swiggy, an online food delivery company, has implemented a monthly period time-off policy for its female delivery partners. Mihir Shah, Swiggy's Vice President of Operations, stated in a blog post: "One of the most underreported reasons why many women do not consider delivery to be a viable job is discomfort from being out and about on the road when menstruation. We've implemented a no-questions-asked, two-day compensated monthly period time-off policy for all of our regular female delivery partners to help them through any menstruation-related problems."

Swiggy's female delivery partners have the option of taking two days of paid time off each month. Those who choose the monthly paid time off will be guaranteed a minimum wage. The firm said it hired its first female delivery partner in 2016 and has been committed to expanding its staff's number of female delivery partners since then. In a blog post, the firm detailed some of its recent attempts to foster an atmosphere that would encourage more women to consider Swiggy delivery as a feasible alternative.

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Swiggy, in addition to its period time-off policy, is collaborating with electric mobility partners to provide EV cycles and bikes for rent to women who do not have access to automobiles Swiggy and Zomato also collaborate with eateries to guarantee that women delivery partners have access to basic amenities such as restrooms. Access to sanitary bathrooms and the implementation of safety measures for female delivery partners are two more efforts.

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In the event of a medical emergency, partners will have access to an SOS service on the Delivery Partner App, which will link them to the Swiggy hotline, local police, or ambulance service. Swiggy has also collaborated with Shell to give delivery partners access to bathrooms at all of the company's fuel stations around the country.

For safety, Swiggy also stated that partners, including men and women, would refuse an order if they believed the environment was dangerous. Previously, the firm had restricted delivery hours for female delivery partners at 6 PM, citing safety concerns. While competitor Zomato offers paid time off, it is just for employees and not for freelance workers. Zomato, on the other hand, outlined a series of initiatives to encourage diversity in the organization ahead of its initial public offering. It stated that it hoped to have at least 10% female delivery employees in its fleet by December.

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