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When the current iteration of the United States Supreme Court banned protection for abortions under Roe v Wade, it became the first country to remove protections for legal, safe abortions in more than 25 years...
Even Afghanistan, under the Taliban, allows abortion to save the pregnant person’s life. In fact, only 15 countries worldwide have a total ban on abortions, making the US’s recent decision a surprising one – and one that has impacted the physical, psychological and mental health of women not just Stateside, but worldwide, as people came to grips with the implications of the decision.
We won’t go into some of the harrowing stories to come out of America in recent months but, suffice to say that even reading about them may have had a detrimental effect on your employees’ mental health. Particularly as the decision has triggered some British MPs to come out in support of the decision, many businesses have moved to offer some reassurance at company level, at least.
TV station Channel 4 and the Co-op both offer it for all their employees who can get pregnant, as does Monzo (a bank popular with the Gen Z demographic), ASOS and content provider LadBible.
With 25% of conceptions in England and Wales ending in abortion in 2021 and a similar amount (24%) ending in miscarriage according to the UK Government, and most pregnancies occurring in women aged 30-34, that means a high proportion of your employees will experience pregnancy loss at some point during their working life. And while the numbers on women who choose to give birth and adopt their baby out are hard to find due to privacy issues and the stigma still surrounding that choice, it’s important to mention and consider when thinking of employee needs.
Whether that loss is by choice due to circumstances or by natural loss is irrelevant – the loss of a pregnancy, whether wanted or unwanted, can have devastating consequences for people, including those whose partners have lost pregnancies.
HR Grapevine spoke to a few companies whose pregnancy loss policies include all types of loss, and we have compiled some helpful tips for you if you haven’t crafted such a policy, or if it needs to be updated to be more inclusive.
The end of a pregnancy can be a hugely physically and mentally traumatic experience. During times like these, the last thing we want our team members to do is worry about work
How to get your pregnancy loss policy right
UNISON, the largest union in the UK, with 1.3million members, has prepared a seven-page Model Pregnancy Loss guide, which can be downloaded here, and includes best practice around the fact that employers are still found to consciously and unconsciously discriminate against pregnant people, how to craft a compassionate leave policy for pregnancy loss, and how to educate managers on the topic.
From the document: “Women are well-aware of the high levels of discrimination and unfair treatment meted out to mothers at work and are very cautious about disclosing their pregnancies… As a result, many women who miscarry will be too fearful to disclose their circumstances, even where designated leave is available.
It continues: “It is crucial that staff members who experience pregnancy loss are dealt with sympathetically in the workplace. It should be recognised that such a loss at whatever stage in the pregnancy can severely affect individuals. After any pregnancy loss, the employer should ideally provide special leave or compassionate leave to support both the woman and her partner.
“The employer should count any sick leave related to a pregnancy loss such as through miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy or abortion as pregnancy-related and therefore it should be noted separately from other sickness absence.”
Some of the companies getting it right
Katrina Cliffe, MD at Wild PR, has used her former pregnancy losses to inform her sensitivity and proactive approach to creating her policies.
“Having experienced a late miscarriage at 20 weeks, followed by a missed miscarriage at six weeks, I understand exactly how the experience of miscarriage can impact both physically and mentally,” she shares. “While my losses were 18 years ago, I was very fortunate that my employer at the time provided me with a month's paid leave without any formal policy in place.
“Establishing my own company eight years ago has given me the opportunity to implement clear and enhanced policies when it comes to things like pregnancy loss and maternity/paternity. At Wild PR, we offer a month's paid leave to anyone who has experienced a loss, no matter the stage of pregnancy, which also extends to the second parent too, should they not be the one who is pregnant. An employee can choose to use it in full or can use it in increments subject to how they feel,” she concludes.
For Suzie Hughes, HR and Ops Director at Gleeson Recruitment, the Government’s current policy is lacking, and it’s up to employers to help correct that.
“It’s a huge government oversight that there’s no statutory entitlement to leave for women who lose a baby before 24 weeks,” she told HR Grapevine. “The end of a pregnancy can be a hugely physically and mentally traumatic experience. During times like these, the last thing we want our team members to do is worry about work, and we want them to feel thoroughly supported and cared for at every stage. Their health and wellbeing comes above all else.”
Gleeson offers two weeks’ paid leave followed by as many reasonable adjustments as can be made after that for those who have suffered this kind of loss. They also offer a counselling service and signpost to services from the NHS and other resources.
Royds Withy King was one of the first UK-based law firms to offer a similar policy – also two weeks’ leave, to either the person who directly suffered the loss, or their partner.
Jessica Parsons, HR Advisor at Royds Withy King said of the policy: “We felt that it was important to recognise that pregnancy loss, no matter when it happens, can have a big impact on both the expecting parents. We have therefore created this policy to support our colleagues and their partners, whether male or female.”
RSA Insurance Group also offers two weeks as standard, and their spokesperson told HR Grapevine that this policy was developed in line with other ‘family-friendly’ policies.
They said: “Many organisations only allow compassionate leave if the miscarriage happens after 24 weeks and fail to acknowledge the support required for partners. However, we know how traumatic and life-changing pregnancy loss can be, so it is important to us that we provide support to our employees, regardless of when the miscarriage happens. Our miscarriage policy provides parents, regardless of gender, with two weeks of fully paid compassionate leave, to help them process their loss and ensure they are mentally and physically in a place to be able to return to work.”
I was very fortunate that my employer at the time provided me with a month's paid leave without any formal policy in place
If you or someone you love has suffered a pregnancy loss, no matter your gender, age, how the loss occurred, whether the pregnancy was wanted or not, planned or not, it can be a big blow. Below are some helpful resources that might help. And if you’re in HR or a leadership position, familiarising yourself with these assets will help you manage these situations carefully, and create policies that help the path toward healing.
The Miscarriage Association
www.miscarriageassociation.org.uk/
The British Pregnany Advisory Service (BPAS)
https://www.bpas.org/abortion-care/abortion-aftercare/
Offers post-abortion counselling and many other services
SANDS
www.sands.org.uk
The leading stillbirth and neonatal death charity in the UK
Tommy’s
www.tommys.org
Provides trusted pregnancy and baby loss information and support
Petals
https://petalscharity.org/
The baby loss counselling charity.
Arc
www.arc-uk.org/
Providing non-biased information and support before, during and after prenatal screening
Ectopic Pregnancy Trust
www.ectopic.org.uk
Providing information, education, and support to those affected by ectopic pregnancy
