Give your staff fertility support or run risk losing them, bosses are warned

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 losing talented people by failing to support them.

- Rachel Hall

With NHS data showing that one in seven couples have difficulty conceiving, the professional body urged companies to be understanding and supportive, and offer flexible hours and paid time off to accommodate medical appointments, and paid compassionate leave when necessary.

Ann Francke, the chief executive of the CMI, 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."