Making the Games Industry Healthier

It’s no secret that the games industry is rife with unhealthy work practices. Crunch is far too common, and developers are often pushed to their limits to meet harsh deadlines. Not only did we want to reject this unhealthy work culture, we wanted to create a studio where our employees could thrive.

Over the past few years, it’s been a priority here at Team Junkfish to make sure we live up to the claim of being a ‘people first’ company. The day-to-day culture of the studio prioritises the well-being of our developers over work output - we reject crunch-culture, allow remote working and flexible hours, doing what we can to ensure our employees have a healthy work/life balance. This was a great start, but we knew we could do more.

Here are the policies we have since introduced to try and improve the lives of our employees:

Menstrual Leave Policy

Menstruation leave is available to all eligible employees at Junkfish that menstruate, irrespective of gender, age, or position within the company.

Menstruation leave may be taken for up to a maximum of 5 days in a calendar month, as required. This leave is intended to accommodate the physical and emotional challenges that may arise during menstruation.

Flexible working is also available should a member of staff experience uncomfortable working conditions throughout the day due to their period but feel that time off is not required.

Bereavement Leave Policy

We have extended the amount of paid leave our staff are able to take up to 10 days to deal with the loss of a dependant. This includes, but is not limited to, the death of a family member, partner, house mate, or anyone who depended on the employee in some capacity in their life.

For non-dependants, we have extended the amount of paid leave up to 5 days. This includes anyone the employee would not consider a dependant. Our definition of a ‘non-dependant’ is intentionally non-descript, as we don't believe it is up to us as a company to dictate the impact a death has on an employee purely based on their relation. We trust our employees to make this distinction themselves so they can take the appropriate time needed to deal with their grief.

We also understand that grief comes in waves. Therefore, Junkfish staff do not have to take all of their leave consecutively, and it can be taken up to 52 weeks after the date of death.

Healthy Living Allowance

All Team Junkfish employees have access to £600 annual funding each to improve their mental and physical well-being.

Here are some examples of what the team have used their allowance on so far:

- Weighted vest

- Adjustable dumbbells

- Under-desk treadmill

- Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gi

- Dental work

- Protein shakes

- Meal replacement shakes

- Yoga classes

- Personal Trainers

- Gym membership

There is a lot of flexibility on what the allowance can be used for so we can meet the individual needs of our employees.

We are proud of the changes we’ve made so far, and it’s been amazing to see policies such as these become more common within the industry. Of course, there’s more work to be done, but we’re on the right track and the future is looking bright. We encourage other studios to consider more people-first practices, and together we can make this industry a healthier place for everyone.

Always remember: happy, healthy developers make better games!