Pakistani lingerie brand Floraison Intimates has announced two to three paid leaves for its female employees on their periods.

“We are proud to offer paid leaves to all employees in their menstrual cycle,” said the brand in an Instagram post.

“As an all-women organisation, Floraison supports its employees and treats them like family. It is difficult to work in menstrual cramps and with other symptoms like migraine & backache,” it added.

Launched in 2020 by two siblings, Faloraison Intimate aims to “break the taboo” of ladies’ undergarments in Pakistan and “normalise" them and innerwear so that people don’t consider them to be something that needs to be hidden or shameful.

According to an Instagram post by the brand, “Floraison means breaking chains, embracing feminity and celebrating freedom.” The paid period leaves are a step towards the brand’s mission.

"Being a woman entrepreneur, I know it's not easy to work and be active during your periods because of the cramps and several other issues like heavy flow, backaches and migraines, so I decided that in my organisation, all women should have some kind of rest on such special days," said co-founder Ramsha Mariam in an interview with Dawn Images. "Our female employees are very happy because now they are under no mental pressure to cope with the menstrual pain and meet the deadlines at work.”

“"Our HR department has marked the period dates for each female employee so that we know when and which employee can go on leave on their respective dates and work is divided amongst the remaining staff accordingly," she said. "It's a paid leave for three days. It depends on the employees as to how and when they want to utilise their leaves within the seven days of the period cycle,” she added.

Many organisations around the world have taken this initiative to facilitate their female employees during the time when they’re going through physical and emotional changes in their bodies.

Last year in November Pakistani tech company Swyft Logistics became the first company in Pakistan to introduce paid period leaves, called “Monthlies”.