‘If you support employees through IVF, you’ll get more out of them
Only around one in five workplaces have a fertility policy, leaving people going through IVF struggling to attend appointments or being held back in their careers, i can reveal.
Even companies with fertility policies in place often list the treatment in the same category as cosmetic surgery or laser eye treatment.
New research from campaign group Fertility Matters at Work found that 64 per cent of organisations don’t have a fertility policy at all.
One woman who went through several rounds of IVF treatment while working for her company told i that she worked for different bosses during her fertility journey and experienced “abysmal” treatment from some.
It was only after she received support from a new male line manager that she had the courage to approach bosses at the company who ultimately changed their policy to give employees paid time off for fertility treatment.
Michelle, whose name we have changed to protect her identity, has a senior role at a manufacturing company and had to have IVF to have both her five-year-old daughter and her six-month-old son. She said IVF needs to be talked about more in the workplace.
“I needed to have fertility treatment because of a male factor issue,” she said. “It was a medical issue on my husband’s side – yet it is nearly always the woman who will be discriminated against in the workplace.
“I chose not to disclose my first round of IVF to my work,” she said. “At the time, the policy at work considered IVF an elective treatment, right next to cosmetic surgery, which is a bit offensive when you are struggling with infertility.
“There was no benefit to me telling work because I wasn’t going to get any time off for it anyway. My career was going well and at the time, I had no idea if the treatment would be successful or if I’d ever be a parent, so I didn’t want them to sideline me because of thinking I was going to have a baby.”
Michelle was successful on her first IVF round in having her daughter. However, her issues at work arose after she and her husband decided to have another child and it took six rounds of IVF before she became pregnant with her son.
“I didn’t tell work I was having IVF again and used holiday so I could keep it private,” she recalled. “But this time, I had a different boss and she wanted to know everything and absolutely hounded me and wanted to know what I was doing and why I wanted time off.
“The difficulty is that with IVF, you don’t know exactly when your treatment dates are going to be so it can appear as though you’re not being straight with them. I had accrued a lot of extra holiday through working weekends and she accused me of fiddling my holidays.”
When she did eventually tell bosses about the treatment, she said she was met with a lack of understanding. “As part of my job, I was in a position where I could be exposed to harmful substances in my work so I asked if I could be moved away from some of those duties,” Michelle said.
“However, I was told no and had to resort to the kindness of a few colleagues who were able to cover those parts of the job for me.”
During one round of IVF treatment, Michelle had to have different medication as it was a frozen embryo cycle and this resulted in her experiencing side effects, saying it left her an “emotional wreck”.
“I had to pull out of a presentation to a senior manager as a result and it was very much seen as a lack of resilience and flakiness, rather than an understanding that it was the direct result of the medication,” she said.
Michelle was eventually moved to a different job, which appeared to be a demotion. However, she found her new boss kind and supportive and she suffered two miscarriages while working for him, describing his support through IVF and baby loss as “phenomenal”.
She said his support encouraged her to approach senior members of the company to talk about the lack of IVF policy. As a result, the company has now implemented a new policy which allows employees undergoing fertility treatment to take off any time needed for appointments and treatment as paid leave.
“I honestly believe my company got more out of it once I had good support because it meant I didn’t feel I had to go and hide,” she said. “Even though the change in policy came too late for me, at least it will help people going through fertility treatment in the future.
“I feel goodwill towards my company and if you are to have a long relationship with your company as I hope to with mine, that is important.
“More companies should have an IVF policy as infertility affects so many people. You get more out of your employees if you give them more and employers should be there for their workforce during the good and the bad.”
Fertility Matters at Work carried out a poll amongst its Instagram community to find out how many workplaces had a dedicated fertility policy. The research revealed 64 per cent of organisations don’t have a fertility policy at all and 15 per cent of respondents said it was only mentioned within another wider policy.
The community interest company found that only 21 per cent of their followers shared that their company had a fertility policy.
While Fertility Matters at Work understands not all organisations can offer paid leave during IVF treatment cycles, they want to encourage flexible working and for employees to take time for appointments.
They also want to see policies recognising everyone who needs them – such as solo parents and people from the LGBTQ+ community, rather than having them hidden within a maternity policy.
Claire Ingle, co-founder of Fertility Matters Matters at Work, told i: “Fertility is one of the last workplace taboos.
“The lack of research in this area underlines the absence of education and validation for something that now affects one in six people worldwide.”
She added that experiencing fertility difficulties has a significant impact on a person’s mental health. “Statistically, nearly half of the people who go through treatment – even investigations into fertility – won’t tell their manager for fear of career impact.
“In our research, 41.8 per cent of respondents said that their work performance was also negatively impacted while going through treatment.
“These statistics are a few amongst emerging research that shows just how big a problem this is, especially from a mental health perspective.”
However, she has welcomed a growing number of workplaces changing their IVF policies, such as giving employees paid leave for treatment and appointments.
“To see organisations validate this issue and start to put support mechanisms in place, such as introducing policies is exceptionally positive,” she said. “Hopefully, the benefits of doing so will be felt both by businesses and for those navigating such a stressful time.”
Campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed recently revealed the results of a study showing that one in four women going through fertility treatment such as IVF has experienced discrimination at work.
A Department of Business and Trade spokesperson said: “Going through IVF is challenging and stressful and we understand the difficulties that can create for working women.
“We encourage all employers to sign up to the Fertility Workplace Pledge – committing to flexible working for women undergoing IVF and making sure they feel comfortable in the workplace.
“Major UK employers including Metro Bank, NatWest Group, Co-op, Channel 4, and UK Hospitality have already signed up to its set of simple and voluntary commitments.”
*Name changed to protect identity
