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At HR Grapevine VIRTUAL: Employee Reward, Benefits & Wellbeing, Hema Wara, Product Director at Fertifa, kicked off session four, highlighting the importance of health and fertility and why this should be high on the agenda for employers and their HR teams. She touched on the fact that fertility had been considered a taboo subject in the workplace, likening it to how mental health was previously perceived.
Having experienced fertility difficulties herself, Wara shared how crucial it is to offer employee support when it comes to this sensitive topic: “We think that reproductive healthcare is that missing piece in the puzzle. I think many employers may think it’s quite a niche area and is it really worthwhile paying attention to this when so few people are impacted.”
She also delved into statistics to give viewers an idea of how much reproductive health effects individuals revealing that 30% of fertility issues reside with men and in 50% of cases where there’s an issue, both the male and female partners have an issue.
During the session viewers were asked: What priority are you giving to reproductive healthcare in your company? 45% said they want to provide support but not sure how and/or are exploring options.
“People do worry about how expensive reproductive healthcare can be, but commercially companies can actually save money and become more efficient by providing these sorts of benefits. They become a workplace that future employees proactively seek out because they have got those innovative benefits. We’ll see loyalty and talent retention increasing as people value such important benefits.”
You can view this session on demand here or click the button below.
