If you’re going through the menopause, you’ll understand the symptoms well. Fatigue, hot flushes and even anxiety can impact your everyday routines.
It can prove especially challenging at work, where you’re surrounded by others and expected to focus on your job, and still many women find themselves powering through these symptoms.
But now Channel 4 have announced its first ever menopause policy, which aims to help support women through this period. This includes flexible working and even paid leave if they feel unwell.
A private, cool and quiet workspace will also be offered to employees experiencing the menopause, to make sure that their environment is not making their symptoms worse.
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On top of this, menopause awareness briefings will be delivered to Channel 4’s leadership teams to make them more informed about it and its HR team has a dedicated champion too.
They hope this will contribute to the normalisation of discussing female health at work, and remove any taboo or stigmas that are attached to it.
If you’d like any additional support dealing with the menopause, there forums and support groups for menopausal women that can help.
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4Women is Channel 4’s in-house gender equality staff network, and they implemented this new policy for employees. They also have a mental health network called 4Mind.
Jane English, one of 4Women’s co-chairs, 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.”
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Alex Mahon, Chief Executive of the network, added, “This is Channel 4 living its remit, normalising a taboo subject by making it more visible, and we hope that 4Women’s fantastic work will inspire more in the industry to support women in their workplaces transitioning through the menopause.”
According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, 59% of women in the workplace who experience menopausal symptoms say that they have a negative impact on their daily work.
Hopefully Channel 4 will inspire other companies to offer similar initiatives for employees.
