Bosses urged to help staff with fertility problems

Tiny Seeds co-founder Chloe Fossé has worked on the Fertility Friendly Workplace Toolkit

A Jersey charity has launched a new project to help employers better support staff who are dealing with fertility problems.

Tiny Seeds has developed its Fertility Friendly Workplace Toolkit to give companies advice on what they can do to support employees and what they might be going through.

There are no rights or protections in Jersey's employment or discrimination laws for people going through fertility treatments.

The charity said it would welcome changes to the law to provide better protections and that it was pleased to see many interested employers at the launch of the toolkit on 28 September.

Employers and fertility experts came together for the launch of the toolkit

Chloe Fossé, from Tiny Seeds, set up the toolkit after hearing from people who had come to the fertility charity for support.

She said: "We've heard from so many people about the difficulties they have had going into work... they worry it has an impact on their career if it's perceived that they might be wanting to go on maternity leave and need time off for treatment.

"What’s encouraging is that employers have come forward and they put their hand up and they say: 'We are supportive.'"

The charity has delivered about 20 sessions about support to different employers and more had agreed to use the toolkit, she said.

Andrew Welsby from Jersey Electricity worked with Tiny Seeds to help create the toolkit

Tiny Seeds worked with Jersey Electricity (JE) to help produce the toolkit to see how it could work with employers.

Andrew Welsby, from JE, said the company was "delighted to be able to work with Tiny Seeds and create this toolkit" and employers just had to make "a few simple, practical changes around things like flexibility for appointments and consider the ability to work remotely".

He added: "My wife and I had some fertility challenges and we're both very lucky that we had understanding employers who were flexible with time off and remote working."

The World Health Organisation said one in six people would experience fertility problems.

Treatments for Jersey patients often requires off-island journeys, meaning more time off from work is also needed.

'Incredibly important'

The government has praised the work of Tiny Seeds, but added there were some legal protections for staff even if they were not specifically for those going through fertility treatments.

The Minister for Social Security, Deputy Lyndsay Feltham said the work that charity was doing "is incredibly important" and she would "urge all employers to get behind this initiative".

She added: "The Employment Law currently doesn’t have provisions relating to rights for those undergoing fertility treatment, or any other medical procedure, but it does allow employees to request flexible working arrangements, so that treatment can be received when it’s needed."