Much of the Western world has made great strides in forcing workplaces to offer maternity and paternity benefit packages
We salute even further, the companies who go above and beyond the law to offer generous packages to both their male and female employees to make going back to work after having children much easier and less financially stressful.
But what about if we’re having fertility struggles, and need time off work to attend the cacophony of medical appointments, scans, test appointments and simply time to breathe that we need? All too often, this is a time we’d rather not tell anyone but our close circle about, and therefore the time is taken off as annual leave or awkwardly, as sick leave.
But now, a large American law firm has announced that it will financially support members of staff struggling with fertility issues and requiring medical intervention
Law company Weil Gotshal say these major perks are all part of a new drive to attract and retain a more diverse workforce, saying,
“Through a partnership with the fertility management firm WINFertility, both non-J.D. professionals and attorneys enrolled in Weil’s health benefits plan can elect to do up to three in vitro fertilization cycles. On average, one IVF cycle costs $10,000 in the U.S.”
“Additionally, employees are being offered elective egg freezing with one free year of storage, a benefit specifically requested by several firm lawyers.”
“We will also reimburse attorneys and staff looking to adopt or conceive through surrogacy up to $25,000 per event and offer a slew of adoption and surrogacy specialists. The average U.S. adoption costs around $40,000 and surrogacy, on average, costs between $75,000 to over $100,000.”
So could this open the doors to more and more companies offering similar packages and employee perks in the US, UK and across the globe?
Only time will tell, but with an ever increasingly competitive work environment, where talented staff look for the best packages, coupled with women leaving starting their families until later in life, we certainly hope so.
Anything that opens the conversation around fertility struggles, and leaves it open for more, gets our vote and we are excited to see more and more companies offering fertility treatment within their employee’s contracts.
Have you received fertility treatment within your employment package? Have you gone ahead with egg freezing or IVF offered by your employer? We would love to hear from you.
Source: IVFbabble.com