Rethinking HR policy on annual leave days and the burden of reproductive Labor

It is a sunny afternoon, and I am going about my duties at my workstation when my phone rings. It is the father of my children, informing me that our domestic manager has left without notice. It is about 3:00 pm , the time my daughter is dropped off from school. I rush to the HR office to apply for three days’ leave. My immediate priority is to get home, as he has already returned to work. The second is to begin the frantic process of finding a replacement.

In her critically acclaimed book Re-creating Ourselves: African Women & Critical Transformations, Molara Ogundipe highlights the importance of listening to the voices of African women. She argues that meaningful transformation requires recognizing women’s experiences across different spaces  in kitchens, social gatherings, and workplaces — where they speak both in words and in silence. This article extends that observation to the formal employment sector, particularly in relation to annual leave, examining the disconnect between HR policies and the often invisible, unpaid burden of reproductive labour.

As a formally employed mother of two, I have repeatedly found myself abruptly applying for leave whenever a domestic worker exits unexpectedly. It is almost always me who must drop everything at work to manage the situation. The same applies when a child falls ill  I leave work, and if the illness persists, I take additional days off. Meanwhile, the father of my children continues his work uninterrupted. My experience reflects that of many female colleagues, whose annual leave is largely consumed by caregiving responsibilities.

Despite progress in women’s participation in the formal workforce, they continue to shoulder a disproportionate share of reproductive labour — unpaid tasks such as childcare, cooking, and household management. Caroline Moser defines this as essential work that sustains households yet remains undervalued and often invisible in economic terms. Her “triple role” framework exposes the unequal distribution of labour and provides a basis for rethinking policies that fail to account for these realities.

The Human Resource policy outlines various forms of leave, including annual, maternity, paternity, and sick leave. However, annual leave — capped at 30 days — is intended for rest and productivity. In reality, for many women, it serves as a buffer for caregiving crises rather than recuperation.

Nivedita Menon argues that women continue to perform the bulk of household labour, often justified by outdated notions of gender roles. While pregnancy is biological, most domestic responsibilities are not inherently tied to women and can be shared. Yet societal expectations persist, raising an important question: why don’t men take leave when domestic support systems collapse?

Across workplaces, many women report that their partners rarely step in during such crises. The assumption that caregiving is a woman’s responsibility remains deeply entrenched. As a result, women’s professional lives are disproportionately disrupted, while men’s remain largely unaffected.

This article calls for a re-examination of gender-blind policies, particularly those governing annual leave. The current framework fails to reflect the lived realities of working women, whose leave is often consumed by unpaid care work rather than rest. While increasing leave days for women risks reinforcing gender stereotypes, it also highlights the urgent need to rethink how policies address care responsibilities.

Long-term solutions must include challenging gender norms, promoting shared responsibility in households, and investing in gender-responsive systems such as workplace childcare and lactation facilities. These measures would ease the burden on working mothers while fostering equity.

Ultimately, women’s lived experiences provide critical insights for policy reform. A bottom-up approach that incorporates these voices is essential to developing fair, inclusive frameworks. Equally important is engaging men in reshaping both societal norms and public policy to address the persistent imbalance in caregiving responsibilities.