Wellbeing at Work: Making Fertility Part of the Wellbeing Agenda

Infertility affects 3.5 million men and women across the UK. This figure equates to approximately 1 in 7 of all couples.

Suffering in silence

The majority of men and women affected by infertility are likely to be in employment. However, despite the large numbers of people struggling, there is a major part of daily life where fertility wellbeing still goes under the radar. Work.  

Research shows us that there is a reluctance for employees to disclose they are struggling with infertility. This resulted in employees suffering in silence.

Tragically, of those who did confide in a line manager, only 42% received support from their employer. This challenged their ability to function productively at work and 19% of people reported reducing their working hours or leaving their jobs completely due to the pressures of managing fertility in the workplace. This presents an operational challenge to employers along with a significant financial impact.

A change on the horizon, but still a way to go

In 2021, some organisations started offering paid fertility treatment and pregnancy loss leave. That being said, policies are meaningless without an organisational culture that is supportive and understanding of the unique fertility challenges faced by their employees.

Bringing fertility into the workplace wellbeing agenda

At Your Fertility Journey, we want to bring a positive change to the workplace. By helping companies bring fertility into the wellbeing agenda, we make sure that your organisation is best equipped to support the fertility wellbeing of staff, attract, and retain talent and avoid discrimination.

How do we do this?

Your Fertility Journey provides a number of services specifically designed for fertility in the workplace.

We can:

• Provide employees with educational fertility webinars
• Host line manager and leader workshops, so that leaders can understand the challenges faced by employees and deal positively with these challenges. This helps to foster a supportive organisational culture that will benefit staff retention, performance and productivity.
• Provide 1:1 coaching for employees going through IVF, supporting employees to manage their work and health commitments whilst navigating IVF and beyond
• Organise in-house fertility MOTs
• Work with you to create employee fertility toolkits and robust fertility policies

The outcomes

Employees that feel their fertility needs are supported within the workplace are more productive and happier, and more likely to stay in employment. Multiple research studies demonstrate that positive employee experiences improve business outcomes.

The next step for your organisation

To put fertility firmly on the wellbeing agenda and develop the best support programme for your company, visit the Your Fertility Journey corporate consultancy page for more details.