Organon has announced a raft of new employee policy measures today that looks to set a new benchmark on how employers can support the health of team members, and will likely encourage other companies to rethink what they offer.
As well as announcing an additional ten days of paid holiday leave, the women’s focused pharmaceutical has announced a new fertility policy allowing employees or their partners to access up to $3000 in costs to support the cost of fertility and assisted reproductive treatments and procedures. The policy is backdated to April 2022, meaning that those who’ve already commenced such treatment can access the reimbursement.
Organan is calling it a Fertility Reimbursement Policy, and it comes as women in NSW have also recently become eligible to apply for a Fertility Treatment Rebate through Service NSW — although with less on offer, at $2000 available.
It is the first such fertility reimbursement policy we’ve come across in Australia. While big tech companies especially have previously promoted initiatives to support employees with the cost of egg freezing, this policy really is something else.
Meanwhile, the additional ten days of leave per calendar year made available for every employee is also one. Organan describes it as being available to extend on personal leave, to care for a loved one, or for self leave — and comes in addition to all existing benefits.
And it has announced an extension of its Compassionate Leave Benefits, now offering an additional two calendar weeks for employees dealing with the loss of someone in their immediate family, as well as new Pregnancy Loss Leave, offering six weeks to any employee who experiences a miscarriage.
According to Organon’s Australia Managing Director, Nirell Tolstoshev, these latest policy announcements come as the employer wants to actively demonstrate what it means to create a flexible and inclusive work environment. She said their policies aim to support the idea that “there is no one size fits all” and to be proactive in supporting the diverse needs of employees in order to live up to the stated value of “we all belong”.
Globally, Organon also ran a recent global employee survey — with the local arm using these results to help inform their new policies.
On discussing the findings, HR Director Sophie Athans highlighted themes that emerged around additional paid leave for personal priorities and work/life balance, as well as an opportunity to elevate metrics regarding respect, inclusion, and well-being.
“One consistent theme was that the existing benefits seemed to be more focused on parents, and in some cases weren’t as inclusive of the diversity of their people. Organon looked at how the company could broader the scope of the benefits, to support employees no matter what stage of life they are at.”
This latest announcement on employee entitlements comes as Organon announces that it will again give all staff the day off on March 8, International Women’s Day, encouraging them to take the day to promote and consider their own health and the health of others.
This article was first published on Women’s Agenda.
Women’s Agenda is a news and features site for career women, and a sister publication to The Mandarin.
