Bangalore-based food delivery platform has about 2 lakh delivery partners, of which a thousand are women.
Food delivery platform Swiggy has come up with a new initiative to introduce a 2-day paid monthly period leave policy for all the female delivery partners. In addition, on choosing to take the leave, the delivery partner will receive a minimum earnings guarantee.
Vice President for operations at Swiggy, Mihir Shah shared that the women experiencing discomfort from being out and about on the road while they are menstruating is most possibly one of the reasons why most women don’t opt for delivery as a viable gig.
He announced through a blog post stating that with the view of supporting Swiggy’s female delivery partners through any menstruation-related problems and challenges, the company has introduced a two-day paid monthly period “time-off” policy for every regular female delivery partner. This “industry-first” initiative is aimed at offering the establishment’s female Des the option to take leaves during their menstrual cycle as well as to get a minimum earnings guarantee during the period.
Bangalore-based food delivery platform has about 2 lakh delivery partners, of which a thousand are women. Shah shared that since welcoming the company’s first female delivery partner in 2016, the platform’s team has been working immensely to build a more inclusive and diverse environment with a commitment towards expanding the number of women delivery partners in Swiggy’s delivery fleet.
Rituparna Chakraborty, co-founder and EVP at TeamLease Services said that Swiggy’s latest initiative is an “interesting move” and the staffing firm will have to see if the move is sufficient in order to encourage and lure in more women delivery partners. She said, “…Am assuming the delivery partners would be compensated for their loss of commission too.”
Apart from the latest initiative, Swiggy has also introduced other initiatives including access to vehicles to women delivery partners, access to hygienic restrooms, etc. it also has undertaken steps to ensure safety of its employees. Measures such as ‘safe zones’ and capping delivering hours sharp at 6 p.m. for female delivery partners were introduced in the company’s policy.
Shah informed that the food delivery platform is taking steps to improve the security processes. He claimed that the company employs the highest number of women delivery partners and is planning on opening up dinner slot deliveries.
In this regard, one of the male delivery partners Chandana R K from Bangalore said that opening up dinner slot deliveries is perhaps a good opportunity for people who want to earn more and have time left to perform deliveries in the evening.
One of the female delivery partners from Chennai claimed that Swiggy empathizes with the woman in the field, especially in terms of the challenges faced by them. She further added that the new period leave policy will undoubtedly motivate a lot of women to opt in for working in this platform. She said, “I am happy to be working with a company that keeps women empowerment in mind.”
