Fertility struggles remain a hidden workplace issue, often reduced to a benefits line without adequate support.
Mindful Employer Canada's Sarah Jenner suggests integrating fertility support into wellness programs to address complex employee challenges.
Younger workers prioritize work-life harmony and collaborative decision-making in defining workplace wellness.
Leaders should focus on connecting employees to resources, not acting as clinicians, and ensure follow-through on employee feedback.
Fertility is deeply personal, but it’s still a workplace issue. Since even the best-meaning leaders often don’t know how to respond, it often gets reduced to a benefits line or overlooked entirely, leaving employees to carry the weight alone.
Sarah Jenner is Executive Director of Mindful Employer Canada, a national nonprofit creating leadership development programs for psychologically safe workplaces. With over 13 years as a workplace mental health consultant, Jenner helps leaders handle complex, often invisible issues like fertility.
Private, not invisible: "Instead of putting leaders in the uncomfortable and potentially legally risky position of asking, 'Are you planning to start a family?', we can integrate fertility support into our overall wellness," Jenner suggests. Fertility struggles are among the most complex and hidden challenges employees face, but they rarely show up in HR reports or wellness dashboards.
Jenner recommends structures like employee resource groups or expert-led lunch-and-learns, giving employees the option to seek support without pressure to disclose. "This autonomy lets employees seek support discreetly," she explains. "It acknowledges that these 'quiet and hidden' challenges deeply affect workplace well-being without forcing uncomfortable disclosures or putting leaders in an awkward position."
Used vs. useful: Fertility is just one example of how traditional wellness metrics fall short. "Companies often get stuck on usage stats," Jenner explains. "They ask, 'What are employees using the most?' But focusing only on usage means we completely miss the impact or the outcome of these programs. You could have a resource that employees are using constantly, but if it's not leading to a positive outcome, they're going to continue to struggle—often silently."
The qualitative quest: Jenner argues that many of these silent struggles can only be surfaced through honest human conversations, not surveys. "We get more of an opportunity to hear and understand where the gaps are for employees and where they’re struggling in ways we haven’t seen yet," she says.
From menopause support (addressing a challenge estimated to cost Canadian businesses $237 million in productivity) to fertility treatments and caregiving, many employee needs are deeply personal and often remain invisible unless companies make space to listen.
Harmony over hustle: Younger generations are driving a cultural shift in how wellness is defined. "They want to have more of a collaborative approach with their leaders; they want to be a part of decision making," Jenner says. "Their idea of wellness comes with much higher expectations. They don't live to work; they understand work is a part of life, but they want to create harmony with it."
Ask, act, and connect: "Don't assume what your employees need; ask them what they need," Jenner advises. "But the key is follow-through. If we’re asking, we need to come back and say, 'We heard you. Here’s what we’re doing with that feedback.' Nothing frustrates employees more than giving their time and seeing nothing change."
That follow-through also means knowing a leader’s role. "It's vital that leaders understand they should be a connector, not a clinician, for employees," Jenner states. "If we make sure they're aware of the supports, they can help connect employees to those resources without crossing that line into clinician, where now they are the support and may be treading in unknown waters."
