Helping People Thrive
Helping People Thrive
When things don't go to plan - How to support employees trying for children or experiencing miscarriage
It’s important for employers to recognise that not everyone’s path to parenthood goes smoothly. Arguably, those who have to deal with the pain, anger, stress and confusion that can come with the highs and lows of fertility treatment – from surrogacy and adoption to IVF and miscarriages – need as much support in the workplace, if not more, than their counterparts who have a smooth path.
There’s currently no Irish law that covers fertility treatment and sadly it’s not something that’s openly talked about in most workplaces, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t lots of things you can do to support your employees.
Approximately 1 in 6 heterosexual couples in Ireland may experience infertility[1].
Aside from the financial drain, the potential mental health impact can unsurprisingly be astounding, with 90% of fertility patients reporting feelings of depression and 42% having felt suicidal[2]. And yet, as an extremely personal subject, many employees suffer in silence while trying to do a good job at work.
While many employers now have an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) or mental health policies, which is a positive step in the right direction, employers can still do much more to help. Indeed, a survey conducted by LinkedIn and Censuswide, showed that the vast majority (91 per cent) of the 1,000 HR professionals polled said they would benefit from education and support to better understand employee fertility issues[3]
How employers can show support for those with fertility issues
While employees currently have no statutory right to take time off work to undergo IVF treatment, the following may help to show your employees your support:
Reduce the stigma: as a company, talk about fertility issues and actively let employees know that you’re there to support them.
Treat fertility issues in the same way as any other medical issue and, where possible, give employees the flexibility they require around treatments.
Have flexible working options in place and make sure employees know you’re supportive of this, whatever the situation.
If at all possible, offer financial support towards fertility treatment.
Train managers on the main issues and empower them to be supportive.
Call out: Acas recommends that if your employee tells you they've reached the embryo transfer stage, from a legal perspective you must treat them as pregnant and they'll have the same rights as any pregnant person (including leave, pay, and protection from discrimination[1]
Miscarriages and work
According to Tommys.org, an estimated 1 in 4 pregnancies ends in a miscarriage[2].
This means that a potentially huge number of women are having to go into work having recently had a miscarriage and carry on as usual, with their partners having to do the same.
Again, while giving employees access to an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) or providing a mental health policy is a good first step, we can learn a lot by looking at the approach taken by other countries around the world. India, for instance, offers an entitlement of six weeks of paid maternity leave. As an employer, making moves towards this will demonstrate you are a family-friendly business who puts your employees mental and physical health first.
How to support employees who’ve been through a miscarriage
Women who have miscarriages are not entitled to their maternity rights. If employees need time off work following the loss of their baby, they must ask their employer for compassionate leave or ask to take annual leave or unpaid leave. The following ideas may help with supporting your employees further:
Create an environment of openness: getting senior managers to talk openly about their own mental health issues will make openness and over-coming personal challenges a sign of strength and highlight that employees are not alone in facing these types of challenges.
Offer extended compassionate leave: giving employees the option to take extended periods of leave and have time to focus on themselves and their recovery is essential. Adjusting your maternity policy to offer 4-6 weeks leave after experiencing miscarriage will be a huge step and, in turn will create the culture of support and empathy that employers should embrace.
Educate managers on how to deal with major personal life events: empowering managers to be as supportive as possible, giving them autonomy to offer a variety of options for support and periods of paid leave will help. In terms of miscarriage, simply understanding that miscarriage can be a lengthy process and that mental health implications can persist for months, if not years will go a long way to help.
Offer mental health support and publicise its availability: getting the support you need after experiencing miscarriage is essential. Offering easy access to mental health support will make a huge difference and hopefully shorten the length of time is takes for individuals to feel themselves again.
Mental Health problems at work cost the Irish economy 8.2 billion euros each year[1]. By adopting some of the policies above and prioritising your employees mental and physical well-being you will not only increase your profitability but also improve your employer brand and become an employer of choice for prospective employees.
Create a calendar of fertility awareness dates to show your support. This will enable you to provide information about the subjects and communicate this to employees while also letting them know about any internal policies or support available to them, e.g. flexible working, Employee Assistance Programmes and so on. Put up posters, create screensavers, talk about it in team meetings. If you can, consider getting an expert on the subject to come and talk to your workforce.
The journey to becoming a new parent can be a challenging one and supporting team members through this transition and ensuring a successful return, can be a rewarding part of your role as a manager. We have designed a bespoke coaching programme for Managers of Parents within RBC to ensure you are equipped with everything you need to support team members on this journey.
We have a bespoke Parental Coaching programme for all RBC employees consisting of 4 1-2-1 Coaching sessions with a coach of your choice. Supporting you through your journey from preparing for your parental leave, making the most of your time away and also, setting you up for a successful return to the office. Book an initial chemistry call with a coach ahead of beginning your tailored programme below.
Wellness Cloud is a leading employee benefits platform, providing remote wellbeing support to employees, with one-to-one consultations, live talks and events, as well as a library of on-demand wellbeing resources, available through the Wellness Cloud Hub and App.
We provide support for a wide range of life challenges, including: pregnancy and parenting, fertility, mental health, menopause, financial wellbeing, professional and personal coaching, nutrition, relationships, women’s health, men’s health, elderly care, sleep, bereavement and neurodiversity.
As an RBC employee, you can access an initial entitlement of 3 one-to-one sessions with a range of Wellness Cloud specialists (see “Are any categories excluded from my allowance?”). Book a Session using the Coupon Code RBCWELLNESS to reduce the normal session price to £0. Once you have used your free sessions, if you would like to request further one-to-one sessions, please fill in the anonymous request form.
Should you wish to purchase a session, you can access a 10% discount, which means each 45-minute session will cost £67.50 instead of £75. You need to use code WELLNESS10 when booking a session to obtain the discount.
All payments are made securely and your transaction will be encrypted. All information relating to payment is transferred using HTTPS with up to 256-bit encryption. Servers are verified PCI compliant and additionally your credit card information is not stored on any servers.
There are a variety of guides under our mental health category, covering anxiety, depression, relationships, bereavement and more. In addition, we run a 90-minute mental health awareness workshop, which is aimed at managers and Wellbeing champions within the business. Our Wellness Cloud app also gives access to sleep stories, guided meditation and a Pocket CBT diary, where you can personally track your own mental health.
We have a dedicated category for parents, offering advice and guidance covering a number of topics from pregnancy and new-borns to teenagers. In addition, you can join our bi-monthly 3-part antenatal course for free. Or attend any of our Baby & Toddler classes which run on a weekly basis. As an employee you can also book in a 1-2-1 consultation with any of the parenting specialists on the platform for free, simply using your booking coupon code RBCWELLNESS.
We offer consultations with personal and professional coaches, who enable their clients to move forward in their careers by unlocking their full potential.
There’s a variety of support and guidance available on Wellness Cloud specifically to men, as well as a number of male specialists that can support you with your wellbeing.
You will find a variety of support and guidance for women’s health and wellbeing, including pregnancy and the menopause.
You will find guides on savings, pensions, investments and tips on improving your financial wellbeing within our expert resources section. Not all of this information will be relevant to colleagues outside of the UK, so please review carefully and seek local advice where appropriate.
Absolutely. There are written guides on the platform that you can find within the Expert Resources tab. Not all of this information will be relevant to colleagues outside of the UK, so please review carefully and seek local advice where appropriate.
Our online antenatal course is completely free of charge and available for you to access through the year. We run this course every other month and it’s easy to join – simply go to the Upcoming Events and Talks page on the Hub and look for the next Antenatal course.
We run over 150 baby and toddler classes each year, which are all free of charge and available for you to access as an employee. In addition, we run virtual drop-In clinics with our breastfeeding, antenatal, and infant sleep experts for you to attend. We also regularly run Q&A sessions with our experts, please keep an eye out for these events and you can join them or watch a recording at your leisure. To access any of these simply go onto the events tab in the Hub.
Everything is available outside of the UK and you can access any of our services, regardless of your location. We have also created some non-UK specific guides, which can be found within the HR & Manager section of our Guides page.
Our Fertility, Pregnancy, Antenatal courses, Baby & Toddler classes are open to family members who live with you.
1-2-1 consultations are available for employees of RBC only, however where appropriate, for example, our child behaviour, sleep, nutrition or parenting 1-2-1 consultations we would understand a partner attending with you.
Wellness Cloud provides a variety of useful support and resources for HR personnel and managers, including live events, workshops, mental health training, guides, videos and more. You are also able to book one-to-one sessions with our network of professional coaches.
Under the expert resources you will find a manager and HR section which has useful guides to help with supporting employees – for example with neurodiversity or bereavement. The live event and talks are often helpful in providing some education and understanding on topics affecting your employees and Wellness Cloud runs several Manager specific events throughout the year.
There are a variety of guides under the Mental health category covering Anxiety and depression, Relationships, Bereavement and postnatal depression. There are also remote Mental Health focused trainings and workshops to help you understand your own mental health and how you can best support others. These interactive workshops run for 90 minutes, every other month and are designed for Managers and other Mental Health first aiders or Champions within the business. In addition, you can book a one-to-one session with the Mental Health First Aid trainer, if you were looking for support or advice around a particular situation and needed clarity on how best to support yourself or a colleague.
There is access to one-to-one consultations with personal and professional coaches, who enable individuals to move forward in their careers by unlocking their full potential.
Please in the first instance contact your manager or your HR team who will help to provide guidance for you and your team.
For ad-hoc 1-2-1 & group support choose from
