A leading Tamil television channel, News7 Tamil, has introduced period leave for its menstruating employees, and announced a slew of reforms aimed at ‘rebuilding workplaces to include women.’ Menstruating staff of the 13 internal departments of News7 Tamil are now entitled to four days of menstrual leave per month. “These staff need not declare the reason while availing leaves, if they are uncomfortable doing so,’ T Chemmel, Managing Editor of News7 Tamil told TNM. The initiative was mooted by News7 Tamil Managing Director V Subramanian.
The period leave will be added to three existing counts of paid leaves — Casual leave, Sick Leave and Privilege Leave at News7 Tamil. Among other reforms, the Chennai-headquartered media network will also get a creche built on one of its floors, where working mothers can safely leave their toddlers and children.
“Since the last two years, we have been letting working mothers pick their shifts. With online classes, some parents preferred post noon shifts. With schools reopening, parents are switching to a general shift (10 am to 6 pm) now. But weekends are difficult and the 24x7 nature of television means that there are no fixed work hours,” Chemmel says, adding that parents can now bring their children to work with the new creche set-up.
The media house has also roped in a team of doctors for its staff. First consultation for female staff will be free. “Anaemia is a common health condition for women and a hectic work schedule means that they do not have time to consult doctors for their health issues. We want to change this,” he says.
The concept of menstrual leave is still a hotly debated topic with a certain section of critics, women included, arguing that this would lead to increased ‘ghettoisation’ and discrimination against women workforce. However, Chemmel argues that this notion simply ‘misunderstands the needs of the women workforce’.
“Most workplaces have been imagined for men and we are simply reimagining our workplace for inclusivity and greater productivity,” he adds. News7 Tamil has 58 women staff in a workforce of 350 members. Six of its verticals are headed by women. The menstrual leave will apply to all levels of the organisation from junior staff to senior management.
Sugita Sarangaraj, associate editor and digital head of News7 Tamil welcomed the policy, adding that it would systemically address period stigma and company biases against hiring women. “I was on my second day of my period when I covered the Chennai floods in 2015. I was reporting while being surrounded by waist-level water. As women, we have to work doubly hard to break glass ceilings. This means that we can never give a menstrual cycle as an excuse at the workplace. Policies like menstrual leave not only recognise the needs of women, but will also help systemically weed out stigma, while recognising the bodily issues faced by women,” Sugita told TNM.
News7 Tamil also wants to ensure career consistency for women, including young mothers, by addressing the problem of 'female workforce attrition'. “An all too common story we hear in competitive industries is women quitting their jobs to take care of their children, to manage their house or due to health issues. This has happened in News7 Tamil too, and it disrupts the career growth of these women. We want to ensure career consistency for women, and one way to do this is to make adjustments to the workplace to address their needs,” Chemmel adds.