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4 days ago
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Employers should have formal policies in place to help workers who are undergoing fertility treatment, the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) has said, warning that businesses are increasingly losing talented people by failing to support them.
With NHS data showing that one in every seven couples have difficulty conceiving, the professional body urged companies to be understanding and supportive, and offer flexible work hours and paid time off to accommodate medical appointments, as well as paid compassionate leave when necessary.
Ann Francke, the chief executive of the Chartered Management Institute, said: “Fertility treatment is often a very private and unpredictable experience for employees, presenting numerous challenges such as balancing work pressures with last-minute hospital appointments.
“Without skilled management support, the significant stresses of fertility treatment can lead to increased sick leave and retention issues if staff feel they have no other choice but to quit or decrease their responsibilities in order to cope with the impact of treatment.
“Employers risk losing good people because they are not addressing what is a growing issue affecting more and more of our workforce every year.”
Just 19% of the more than 1,000 managers surveyed by the CMI said their organisations had a formal policy concerning fertility treatment for employees, and 35% said there were no plans to introduce one. However, three-fifths (63%) considered these policies to be important, according to data exclusively shared with the Guardian.
Another report published last year suggested that one in five employees who had undergone fertility treatment had quit their job due to a lack of support at work.
Sharon Martin, the interim chief executive of Fertility Network UK, which provides advice for employers and practical and emotional support to employees, said fertility polices were “vital for effective support” to combat the “lack of education around the reality of fertility struggles and a lack of awareness about what a fertility journey entails”, including its physical, mental and financial impact.
“With a policy in place, employees know immediately what help is available without having to disclose their infertility or treatment if they don’t wish to,” she said, adding that some policies designated a member of staff to speak to for support, and signposted charities that could help.
While some policies offer unlimited leave, others give a set number of days, with the option of additional unpaid leave and flexible working, including for the partner of someone undergoing fertility treatment.
Martin said Fertility Network was increasingly receiving requests from employers to help them write a policy. “Those who have adopted such policies say employees have responded very positively and responsibly,” she said.
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Fertility Network’s most recent survey found that 78% of employees said a company’s fertility policy was very important when they considered a new job.
Fertility Network is part of the Workplace Fertility Campaign Group, which submitted a white paper to MPs in 2024 on the impact of fertility challenges in the workplace, with a view to redressing the current lack of rights for those undergoing fertility treatment and the discrimination that some face, despite infertility being a recognised medical condition.
The group is calling for legislative change so that employees going through IVF are entitled to paid time off to attend appointments and for their partners to accompany them on an unpaid basis.
Kelly Harrison, who works in customer services, said the company she worked for when she was undergoing IVF did not have an infertility policy and had no previous experience of dealing with it.
“I didn’t quite know where I stood with time off, so I took it upon myself to ensure I worked back any time that I had to take away from work for appointments, and would try and schedule them for first thing in the morning so as not to disrupt the office too much. Trying to balance the appointments and work was quite stressful and I’m not sure I ever dealt with the emotional side of it as I didn’t feel I had the time,” she said.
A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said: “We welcome companies choosing to offer improved wider benefits to their staff as part of their contract. Our plan to make work pay includes measures which may help people who are undergoing fertility treatment as well as their partners, including making sure people can benefit from flexible working and ensuring flexibility is a genuine default, except where it is not feasible.”
