British Firm Bats For Paid Menopausal Leaves And Flexible Workplace

Most of us talk about why menstrual leaves should be a reality. But what about the concept of Menopausal leaves?  To start with menopause affects the mental wellbeing of a woman along with sleep disturbances, mood changes, and weight gain. However, a British broadcaster is prioritising its women employees' health over work. A national TV Station in Britain, Channel 4, has rolled out a raft of measures to assist women dealing with the menopause. It announced on Friday, that it would arrange for its female employees flexible working arrangements and tailored workspaces and even paid menopausal leaves.

The media firm's initiative is the first known among British media firms.

Key-Takeaways:

• Menopause affects the mental wellbeing of a woman along with sleep disturbances, mood changes, and weight gain.
• Channel 4, a national TV Station in Britain has rolled out a raft of measures to assist women dealing with menopause.
• The measures include flexible working arrangements for its female employees and tailored workspaces along with paid menopausal leaves.
• The initiative is the first known among media firms.

A national TV Station in Britain, Channel 4, has rolled out a raft of measures to assist women dealing with the menopause. It announced on Friday, that it would arrange for its female employees flexible working arrangements and tailored workspaces and even paid menopausal leaves.

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Menopause- A Battle That Older Women Face

Channel 4 Creates women friendly workspace for women dealing with Menopause, Image credit: Mirror

With the changing times, ‘periods’ is no longer a shameful topic. We have free sanitary pads available in loos at many of the workplaces. But we still lag behind in discussing the topic of menopause and assisting women in dealing with the same. Alex Mahon, Channel 4's CEO says, “This is Channel 4 living its remit, normalising a taboo subject by making it more visible.” Alex Mahon is the first woman CEO of the company in its 37 years history. She also added that with her initiative, she hopes other media firms to take inspiration and provide for a women-friendly workspace to assist them in dealing with menopause.

The company has also set up a private and cool space for women dealing with menopause to combat hot flashes.

The media firm's initiative is the first known among British media firms. Jane English, a co-chair of 4Women, said: “We wanted to open up the conversation at Channel 4 and in doing so prompt the media industry to also start talking more about how they can better support women transitioning through menopause.”

A Private And Cool Space To Deal With Hot Flashes

The company has also set up a private and cool space for women dealing with menopause to combat hot flashes. Women are also entitled to an assessment of the available facilities and the workspace to make sure that in any way, the workspaces do not worsen their symptoms. Also, a human resource employee has been designated as the Menopause Champion. Some of the side effects of Menopause are:

• Hot Flashes, which means an unexpected feeling of heat all over the body, accompanied by sweating, is a very common effect observed in post-menopausal women. “I experience sweating even at cold weather frequently and wasn’t sure as to why this is happening. On approaching my doctor, I found out it’s because of menopause,” says Kavita Rastogi, a 49-year-old housewife.
• Mood Swings accompanied by irritability, are one of the results of changed hormonal concentrations. “Not only post menopause, but as I was reaching closer to menopause, I experienced sudden mood swings, was frequently irritated over petty issues,” says Neelam Srivastava, a 46-year-old housewife.
• Weight Gain is one of the most common effects of menopause. The hormonal change causes weight gain around the abdomen.
• As many as 61 per cent of post-menopausal women report insomnia. Snoring is also found to develop with pauses or gasps which indicate an even serious sleep disorder called Sleep Apnea (OSA). “Sweating at night made me feel uncomfortable which gradually resulted in insomnia,” adds Kavita.
• Estrogen is one of the hormones that affects memory, both pre and post-menopause. A change in estrogen concentration results in short-term memory issues. “Irritability came in association with short-term memory issues. I started forgetting things I did just 10 or 15 minutes before,” adds Neelam.
• A woman’s sex life might also be affected with decreased sex drive and vaginal dryness.

Picture Credit: HT

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