Nearly one in four US employers allows its workers to take time off after a pregnancy loss, according to a new report from benefits consultant NFP.
While more than half of those respondents said that the length of time offered varies based on individual need, 36% said they allow five days, and 3% said the leave was unlimited. The survey covered bereavement leave for a miscarriage or fertility treatment that didn't result in a viable pregnancy, and didn't specify whether the period of absence was paid or not.
"What we've been through with the pandemic has really magnified our relationships and there's no longer a line dividing employee and employer, or what happens at home and what happens at work," said Maria Trapenasso, national practice leader for human capital solutions at NFP. "Employers are really starting to lead with compassion."
NFP late last year surveyed 257 US human resources professionals who are involved in creating and updating their organization's leave policies.
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Companies appear to be more frequently stepping in to give workers space to deal with losses that can be all too common: as many as 20% of known pregnancies end in miscarriage. Recently, firms including Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. and tobacco company Altria Group announced that their bereavement policies will now cover pregnancy loss. Last month, an Illinois law went into effect requiring employers to expand bereavement leave to cover "pregnancy loss, failed adoptions or surrogacy agreements, unsuccessful reproductive procedures, and other diagnoses or events negatively impacting pregnancy or fertility."
Partly in a bid to retain talent, employers are also increasingly providing fertility benefits. Survey data from workforce consultant Mercer showed that as recently as 2015, just under a quarter of employers with 500 or more workers covered in vitro fertilization. In 2020, the figure rose to 27% and by 2021, it jumped to 36%.
Some 90% of companies now offer paid bereavement leave, up from 79% in 2017, according to a survey last year of 3,129 companies conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management.
