Karnataka High Court stays State's one-day-a-month menstrual leave mandate for working women

The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday stayed a notification recently issued by the State government, which entitled women employees in various establishments to avail one paid leave each month as menstrual leave.

This notification applies to all industries and establishments in the State which are registered under the Factories Act, 1948, the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1961, the Plantation Labour Act, 1951, the Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966 and the Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961.

Justice Jyoti M today passed an interim order staying this notification on a petition filed by the Bangalore Hotels Association. A similar petition filed by the Management of Avirata AFL Connectivity Systems Limited was also listed today.

After hearing preliminary arguments by Advocate Prashant BK, who represented the Bangalore Hotels Association, the Court sought the government's response in the matter and stayed the notification dealing with the menstrual leave policy under challenge.

The Court added that the State government is at liberty to seek a modification of this order, if needed.

"There shall be interim order as prayed for. Government to file statement of objections. Liberty to seek modification of the order," the order said.

The Bangalore Hotels Association is an association of hotels, restaurants, bakeries, sweet shops and ice cream parlours, with about 1540 owners/ establishments as active members.

In its petition, the association argued that there are already sufficient provisions governing the grant of leave to employees.

While so, the association contended that the Karnataka government issued the notification mandating that employers give one day of paid leave per month to all women employees during their menstrual cycle, without any power to do so.

"This notification does not even indicate under which power the government has issued," the petitioner's counsel argued today. 

Such matters should have been left to each establishment to decide, the association said in its petition, while urging the Court to strike down the notification issued on November 20, 2025.

"The impugned notification issued by the Respondent is not supported by any legislative enactment ... Government is not empowered to direct the industrial establishments to provide menstrual leave by way of an executive order. The Respondent instead of leaving it to the employers to decide appropriately on granting of menstrual leave as part of their HR policies, has unnecessarily interfered in the affairs of the employers," the plea said.

The association added that the granting such menstrual leave is likely to cause additional financial burdens and has serious civil consequences. Therefore, the government should have first sought the input of affected stakeholders before issuing such a notification, the plea stated.