You may not want anyone to know that you are having treatment – but if taking unscheduled time off from work is difficult, you are going to have to tell your boss!
At Bourn Hall we know that the pressure of balancing fertility treatment and work can be stressful. Many patients are worried that having treatment will impact their performance at work as well as their career prospects. They don’t know their rights or how to start a conversation with their employer about taking time off for appointments.
To help our patients, Bourn Hall has teamed up with Fertility Network UK to facilitate its ‘Fertility in the Workplace’ initiative. This programme aims to inform employers about the ways they can support their staff experiencing fertility issues and manage the impacts in the workplace. It also provides resources and practical support to employees.
Working together to improve workplace culture
Fertility in the Workplace (FiTW) is part funded by Bourn Hall and the Government’s Health and Wellbeing Fund. This means that although larger organisations make a contribution to the cost of training, Fertility Network UK is able to offer fully funded support packages to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) until March 2025. This will help them establish a Fertility Policy, offer training to their staff and become more aware of the need for ‘Fertility Fairness.’
Bourn Hall has also been reviewing how it can offer more flexibility with appointments and schedules, so patients are more in control of how and when to tell their employer about their treatment. We have been sharing our journey with Fertility Network UK and together we are developing resources to help other clinics become more patient-centric. This is called the ‘Clinic Pledge’.
Fertility in the Workplace aims to reduce the stress that people struggling with infertility experience in the workplace. It provides resources and support for employees, information and training for employers, and is working with clinics to encourage them to offer more flexibility. More information.
FiTW – support for employees
If you and your partner need some moral support and practical help, FiTW is able to help in a number of ways:
- Fact sheets for you – such as Employment Issues – which explains your rights and gives examples of how employers have offered flexibility to support their staff. If your organisation doesn’t have a Fertility Policy then these are examples that you could propose as options.
- Support groups and mentoring – this includes Peer 2 Peer Mentoring group for women.
- Wellbeing in the Workplace – a programme of advice and support available online specifically designed to help you navigate work and treatment.
- Workplace Ambassadors are individuals that are sharing their lived experience to influence change.
FiTW Fertility Fairness – support for employers
Infertility can be a constant and overwhelming challenge for those affected and for many it gets so difficult they leave their job. By making adjustments in the workplace it is possible to create a supportive environment, that retains these workers and makes you more attractive to others.
FiTW is able to help in a number of ways:
- Consultancy to develop a Fertility Policy that is fair to all and integrates with your existing procedures
- Advice sheets such as: A managers guide – what to say, Fertility and Mental Health – how to help
- Training for staff as interactive webinars or ‘lunch and learn’ sessions.
- Fertility in the Workplace – an introduction
- FiTW – for line managers
- Resources for use in the workplace such as posters
- Support for employees – Wellbeing in the workplace programme for employees.
FiTW Clinic Pledge – support for fertility clinics
By understanding patients’ work place constraints – such as teachers who may prefer treatment in the summer holidays, or shift workers that are on a fixed rota – then it may be possible to schedule appointments and treatment that fits more easily within their working lives.
Bourn Hall is taking a lead in this by adapting its working environment and sharing their learning with other clinics to fast track change.
The Clinic Pledge requires signatories to:
- Understand workplace constraints
- Offer operational flexibility for appointments, communications and treatment
- Create a supportive environment for its own staff that are impacted by their own infertility
The Clinic Pledge Information Pack is available here and clinics are invited to register to receive the FiTW Clinic Toolkit. This includes templates and resources such as Fertility Policy optimised for clinics.
More information
Fertility in the Workplace – information and online resources.
See more information about the Clinic Pledge on our news page here.
The CIPD has produced a report and recommendations: ‘Workplace support for employees experiencing fertility challenges, investigations or treatment’
A number of Bourn Hall patients have shared their experiences of balancing work and treatment.
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