Larsen and Toubro announced a one-day paid menstrual leave, a day ahead of International Women’s Day. Around 5,000 women employees of the engineering, procurement and construction major will benefit from the move.

The announcement is only applicable to the employees of the parent L&T and not for its subsidiaries engaged in financial services or technology, sources told news agency PTI. L&T has 60,000 employees, of which 9 per cent or about 5,000 are women, who will benefit from the move, which gets implemented immediately.

The announcement comes weeks after the company’s chairman and managing director S N Subrahmanyan faced criticism for comments asking employees to put in 90-hours a week and not keep staring at their wives.

Companies like Swiggy and Zomato have made menstrual leaves in the past, but major business houses are to announce such initiatives.

Four states – Bihar, Odisha, Sikkim and Kerala – have made provisions for menstrual leaves for their employees. The Supreme Court had last year suggested the government formulate a policy on the issue.