Boss gives all his 800 staff Women’s Day off

ALL 800 staff at a firm that makes drugs to treat female health problems will get the day off for International Women’s Day next month.

Organon will give its male and female workers in Britain an extra day’s holiday on Tuesday, March 8, ‘to give women a chance to put their health needs first’.

International Women’s Day (IWD) celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women and calls for gender parity. The £6.2billion US firm, which has British sites in Shoreditch, East London, and Cramlington, Northumberland, hopes female staff will use the day for activities related to their health – from attending medical appointments to exercising. Its UK boss, Simon Nicholson, said male employees were being encouraged to ‘support the women in their lives’ on the day. Mr Nicholson, a father of three, will walk with his wife as she completes a challenge to walk the equivalent of Land’s End to John O’Groats.

He told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Women often put themselves at the back of the queue when it comes to looking after their health. The pandemic has just exacerbated this. A thriving woman supports not only herself but her family, community and wider society.’

Organon, which has 9,500 staff worldwide, is drawing up policies to support women, thought to include help for those going through the menopause and two weeks’ paid leave for women and men after pregnancy loss from abortion, miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy. Mr Nicholson hopes other firms will also mark IWD by introducing female-friendly policies, including support for employees struggling with symptoms of the menopause.

But City businessman and pundit David Buik said: ‘This has a slight tinge of woke about it. To highlight one section of the workforce and not another seems divisive. But if you do not move with the times companies can get caught out.’