Cost of sick leave for appointments, productivity loss and resignations is more than of paid leave, research estimates
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.”
