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UK employers who do not formally support staff undergoing fertility treatments could be losing £217.3m a year in sick leave, lost productivity and resignations, research estimates.
Companies without fertility leave pay £35,317 per affected employee, compared with a cost of £388 for 10 days’ paid leave when a clear fertility policy is in place, the campaign group Fertility Matters at Work estimated.
“Employees currently have no legal right to take paid time off work for fertility treatment,” said Alice Macdonald, the Labour MP for Norwich North, who will raise the findings in a 10-minute rule bill in parliament on Tuesday, in which she will put forward introducing a statutory right to paid time off for fertility appointments.
She added: “A change in the law is not just a moral imperative but an economic one. The current situation is bad for our society, bad for our economy and bad for people who want to start or grow their family and require extra medical support to do so.”
Fertility Matters at Work calculated that employers lost £53.8m each year through sick leave for appointments, typically taken by 63% of employees undergoing fertility treatment and usually to conceal the procedure, and up to £27.8m in lost productivity, with 73% of employees undergoing fertility treatment saying their performance had suffered. Meanwhile, employers pay an average of £30,614 to recruit a replacement for an employee who leaves due to lack of support, as happened for 6%; while the Treasury loses £47.9m in unpaid leave and resignations.
The report estimates that providing 10 days’ paid fertility leave costs £388, and is cheaper than providing five days, which costs £434, due to productivity gains from carefully planned absence.
Becky Kearns, the chief executive and co-founder of Fertility Matters at Work, said: “Most businesses are choosing the expensive option without realising it, and employees are paying the price in lost careers and stalled opportunities.”
Nicole McCarley, who has an administrative job at a private healthcare provider, has taken multiple periods of sick leave due to the side effects of fertility medication, which included dizziness, hot sweats and double vision. As a result, she had two disciplinary hearings, and received no reassurance that she would not lose her job or have her pay cut despite explaining her situation.
“The fear of losing my income and the chance of starting a family was overwhelming. I was always so worried whether my job would be safe and how if I did lose my job that my hopes and dreams of having a family would disappear due to losing my income. This also took a massive toll on my mental health,” she said.
She raised her fertility treatment with her previous manager, who told her: “I don’t know what that is or how you want me to help.”
She said: “At the back of my mind I was hoping someone would say, ‘I know you’re struggling taking this time out – take the time and don’t worry about work’.”
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McCarley is now pregnant, and said: “The protection I’ve got now compared with before is insane – I just can’t get my head around it”, citing paid time off for appointments instead of needing to use annual leave, being encouraged to take sick leave for symptoms, and a compassionate attitude.
Laura* had six cycles of IVF, one of which resulted in a miscarriage. She said her mental health was “severely impacted”, including severe depression, anxiety, fatigue and insomnia. She is now facing an absence review that may result in a formal warning, despite the fact her miscarriage should have been considered pregnancy-related illness and not counted towards absence triggers. “They won’t accept this – I’m broken and wish I could leave but can’t face looking for a new job,” she said.
Petra Wilton, the director of policy at the Chartered Management Institute, said managers should create “open, supportive cultures where staff feel able to speak up and access flexibility without fear of stigma”. “Employers risk losing good people because they are not addressing what is a growing issue affecting more and more of our workforce every year,” she added.
A government spokesperson said: “We have set out our immediate priorities for reforming employment law in the plan to make work pay, which includes supporting those balancing work with treatment.
“We are strengthening the right to flexible working in our employment rights bill, which will make it easier for employees and employers to agree arrangements that support attendance at medical appointments, including those for IVF.”
*The name has been changed
