Time off for IVF

There is no statutory right to time off — paid or unpaid — to undergo fertility treatment. Some employers, especially in unionised workplaces, have agreed specific procedures for time off.

If the treatment makes you feel unwell, you will be entitled to sick leave and pay under your employer’s normal sickness absence rules.

The Equality Act Code of Practice says the unfavourable treatment of someone undergoing IVF — for example refusing time off — is not pregnancy or maternity discrimination. This is because a woman is not deemed pregnant until the fertilised ova have been implanted in the uterus.

However, your employer risks engaging in sex discrimination if you can show that a man in a similar situation would have been treated more favourably — for example if you are penalised for asking for time off for IVF appointments, whereas an equivalent male employee would not be penalised for asking for time off to attend hospital appointments.

Once the ova have been implanted, you have the same rights to paid time off and other protections as any other pregnant woman.

Interestingly, the World Health Organisation treats infertility as a disability under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities. Nobody has tested in the UK whether infertility is a disability under the Equality Act 2010, although it would perhaps be difficult to satisfy the requirement to show substantial negative impact on “normal day-to-day activities”.

www.equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/files/publication_pdf/employercode.pdf