Improving the working lives of our members is at the heart of everything we do. As well as developing new products to improve the working lives of flexible workers, we also look to continually improve our current ones to ensure they provide the best level of care. 

As a result of this work, we have now upgraded our compassionate leave offering to include miscarriage cover. If one of our workers, or their partners, suffers a miscarriage, they will now receive a payout to ensure that they can afford to take time off work to grieve together. The payment will allow the worker to take approximately one week off work. 

Supporting women in the gig economy: why we’ve introduced miscarriage cover

Women in the gig economy should get the care that they need and deserve. The space presents fantastic opportunities for women; recent Collective Benefits research notes that a woman’s key reasons for entering self-employment are greater control of hours (63%) and the choice of where to work (56%), as well as a better work-life balance (55%). This flexibility has enabled plenty of women who might otherwise be constrained by family commitments to enter the workforce. By offering miscarriage cover, we aim to make the gig economy even more inclusive to women and be a place where women feel secure in their work. 

It’s important to us, on International Women’s Day and every other day, to enable the female independent workforce to grow, develop and thrive, and offering miscarriage cover is clearly an essential factor in allowing it to do so. 

A new standard of care: why it’s important 

It’s almost unheard of for self-employed workers to have compassionate leave insurance cover in the event of a miscarriage (or any other death for that matter). Even workers employed in the traditional sense - who would be given some time off - are usually given it as sick leave, which does not recognise the deeply emotional nature of these moments. 

We’ve chosen to class our miscarriage cover under compassionate leave rather than sick leave, as we understand that a miscarriage is a death within a family. It’s a type of death that, traditionally, is beyond the limits of what employers are comfortable acknowledging. This is something that needs to change. 

By classing miscarriage leave as compassionate leave, we recognise the true impact that suffering one can have on a couple and their family; a level of care that should be standard in - and outside - of our industry. 

Want to find out more about how our products help organisations to protect their flexible workforce? Click here.