Nepal proposes menstrual leave for female civil servants

The Nepali government has proposed granting menstrual leave to female civil servants through an amendment to the Civil Service Act 1992. The proposal is included in the Bill to Amend and Consolidate Laws Relating to the Federal Civil Service, which was recently registered at the Federal Parliament Secretariat.

If passed, Nepal would join a small group of nations, such as Japan and South Korea, that provide menstrual leave for government employees. The bill specifies that female employees will retain existing entitlements, such as casual, home, sick, study, and extraordinary leave, while adding menstrual leave, maternity leave, childbirth leave, and maternity care leave to their benefits.

The current draft of the bill does not yet define the specific number of days allowed or the conditions under which the leave can be taken. This legislative move follows a period of rapid growth in female representation within Nepal’s civil service, supported by a 2007 amendment that reserved 33 percent of civil service positions for women.