Calls for legal right to paid leave for IVF treatment

Natalie Rowntree from North Yorkshire recently began her IVF journey and describes the process as “intense”.

The 38-year-old had seven IVF-related appointments in the space of eight weeks, including multiple blood tests, scans and x-rays, one of which left her in physical discomfort for “a good few days”.

As is the nature of fertility treatment, all of these appointments have to be made at very specific times of the month – and it proved difficult to fit them in with her work at a private optician.

“I just use sick days and holidays to make these appointments,” she says.

Added to this is the emotional burden of having to manage the process, without the right to time off.

Two years ago, Natalie suffered two miscarriages over a six-month period and since then has been unable to conceive with her partner.

“The emotional side is quite difficult, and trying to manage that around work…do I bite the bullet and explain what’s going on? Or continue to have sick days and vacations?” she said.

According to research by social enterprise Fertility Matters at Work, Natalie is among the 63% of IVF employees who take sick leave to undergo treatment – with most citing that they do so to hide their treatment from their employer.

Calls are now being raised for women undergoing fertility treatments to have the legal right to paid time off to attend their appointments.

Campaigners say that while some employers offer fertility help, it is spotty and not guaranteed, and should be considered a medical procedure.

Becoming pregnant through IVF confers the same maternity rights as pregnancies without IVF, but currently in employment law there are no legal rights to fertility treatment.

This could cost the economy and businesses millions of dollars in lost productivity, according to research from Fertility Matters at Work.

Natalie says she has avoided discussing her treatment with her superiors because she is nervous about the reception she might receive if she took time off work to go through the process.

“If I had to go to my managers and tell them I was pregnant, I wouldn’t feel nervous about it at all…but with this, because you don’t know how long it’s going to last, you can’t give a timetable at work.”

The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s employment guidance advises “good practice” for employers whose workers are requesting leave for IVF treatment, but it recognizes that such requests are not covered by the protected characteristic of pregnancy and maternity under the law.

However, refusing to give someone time off for fertility treatment could be considered sex discrimination in some situations – but campaigners say this is difficult to prove.

Becky Kearns, of Fertility Matters at Work, co-founded the group with two other women after they all experienced their own struggles with IVF while trying to stay afloat in the workplace.

The 39-year-old says granting furloughs would be a potential benefit to employers, which could save the economy millions of dollars in lost productivity.

“What we’re seeing is that with 63% taking sick leave, which impacts businesses, the disruption of that absence comes at a cost.”

She also believes that employers need to be more aware of the consequences that IVF – which she considers a “significant life event” – can have on their employees.

“You often have to attend a number of appointments at very short notice, it depends a lot on how your body reacts to the medication.

“But we also know that there is still a huge stigma around IVF and infertility.

“We receive messages almost daily from people who struggle with this experience…people who take sick leave to hide treatment, due to the fact that they are then triggered into absence procedures and their performance may be monitored.

“And all because they were going through fertility treatment and just felt unable to say that this is what they were going through.”

She says women have also told them they quit their jobs and signed non-disclosure agreements following IVF.

The government says that while there is no specific legal right to leave for IVF treatment, it expects employers to treat staff fairly and accommodate reasonable requests.

The government also says it is strengthening flexible working rules, which will make it easier for employees to agree support arrangements with their workplace.

But that is not enough to reassure Labor MP Alice MacDonald, who will bring the issue to Parliament via a ten-minute rule bill, which proposes to enshrine in law the legal right to take time off for fertility appointments.

While the issue is unlikely to become law without official government support, it seeks to put it “firmly on the government’s radar”.

“A lot of people, especially women, are affected by this when you’re trying to have a baby and, through no fault of your own, you need additional medical support, you’re not allowed to take time off to go to these appointments,” she says.

“At a time when you’re hoping that it’s going to work, that it’s going to be successful, to finally be pregnant and have the baby that you want, you have another additional obstacle that comes from your employer.

“There are many employers who support you, but you have to hope that there is one who understands and will give you time off.

“If the law made it clear what your rights are, we think that would open up the discussion and that employers should have a policy.”

Patrick Milnes, of the British Chamber of Commerce, says businesses are concerned about the risk of “over-legislation” ahead of the Employment Rights Bill in particular, which will seek to relax rules on flexible working.

“Small and medium-sized businesses in particular have told us about their concerns about different types of legislative holidays,” he says.

“Most of the employers we talk to do this sort of thing as a matter of good practice anyway.

“If you legislate, these processes can become more complicated, even more cumbersome, and in fact, in many cases, it’s easier to do these things on a case-by-case, ad hoc basis.

“There’s a happy medium between having nothing at all and having a full legal process that could be overwhelming in some cases.”

But Natalie says legal leave rights would make a “huge” difference to her.

“If you didn’t have to wonder, ‘What will work think if I’m on leave again?’ » that would take away a lot of stress.

“I’m in the early stages [of IVF] and I’m thinking about what that’s going to look like from a work perspective going forward.

“I don’t want this to last forever, for other women who are also going to experience this. I think it’s an important thing that needs to be fixed.”