Nairobi, Kenya — Nairobi County has started allowing female employees to take two paid days off each month to deal with period pain and discomfort, in a policy that Gov. Johnson Sakaja described as rooted in a cabinet discussion about a colleague’s menstrual health. The county government said the leave took effect in December 2025, covering employees working in Nairobi.
Sakaja told The Associated Press that Kenya’s national government has expressed interest in how Nairobi implemented the program and that other county governors have also reached out. He said the approach is designed to support both dignity and workplace output, arguing that workplace support for women improves performance rather than undermining productivity.
“In Nairobi, we have always valued our staff,” Sakaja said, adding that “Your biggest asset is your staff.” He said the policy begins with “dignifying your own staff, for them to feel that they’re respected and dignified.” He also argued that women’s workplace needs should not be treated as a cost that reduces production, telling AP that “Women’s rights are not anti-productivity — they are an input that creates productivity. It’s actually an investment in your workforce.”
Sakaja said critics who worry the policy could discourage employers from hiring more women have not convinced him. He said there would be no financial impact because the county has more than one person in each role, and he described the absence as manageable: “It will not be a train smash if three or four people in a department are not there for a day or two.”
The county said it implemented the leave using a cabinet decree and an internal memo from its human resource office. Nairobi’s human resource manager Janet Opiata said the policy operates as a “no-questions-asked, no-forms-filled” arrangement and provides paid leave alongside employees’ usual sick and annual leave benefits under labor law. Opiata said the leave had already been used: she told AP that at least 12 women from her department, including a senior director, benefited from the leave in February.
A revenue officer in Nairobi, Marion Kapuya, said the policy has made a difference for workers who experience pain or discomfort that can affect day-to-day performance. Kapuya told AP, “Working with pain or discomfort can lead to mistakes or low productivity,” and she said that taking a break after feeling relief makes her “performance will be top-notch.” She also said stigma remains a barrier, describing how difficult it can be to tell a manager that she needs time because she is menstruating.
The policy has drawn attention beyond Kenya as other countries have introduced similar measures. AP reported that Japan adopted a menstrual leave policy in 1947 and that Spain introduced one in 2023, alongside policies in countries such as Indonesia and South Korea. In Africa, AP said Zambia has a nationwide menstrual leave policy that allows one day off per month without requiring a note from a health care provider, with advocates arguing such policies recognize menstruation as a legitimate workplace health issue.
Not all reactions to Nairobi’s policy were entirely supportive, though. Christine Akinyi, a private-sector worker in Nairobi, told AP the two days off was a “great start” but said the benefit should be expanded to four days. She also expressed concern that the policy could create a hiring preference for men because workers who do not menstruate would not have the same leave option.
A Nairobi-based gynecologist, Eunice Cheserem, said severe menstrual pain is common among the women she sees and that it can become debilitating. Cheserem told AP that severe menstrual pain is present in 50% of the women she sees at her clinic and that when pain becomes severe, “she actually ceases to be functional,” with some patients experiencing symptoms such as vomiting, severe headaches, diarrhea, and intense cramps. She said some women respond to conventional analgesics while others need very strong pain relief to function, and she said Nairobi’s new leave offers needed rest for women to manage their health.