Is there a right to time off for IVF appointments? 


There is no statutory right to time off, paid or unpaid, for fertility treatment, but some employers, especially in unionised workplaces, have agreed specific procedures for time off. If the treatment makes an employee unwell, she will be entitled to sick leave and pay under the employer’s normal sickness absence rules (see Chapter 8). 


Refusing time off for the early stages of fertility treatment will not be pregnancy or maternity discrimination, until the fertilised ovum has been implanted in the uterus. Even so, an employer who refuses time off will be guilty of sex discrimination if a comparable man would have been treated more favourably, for example, if a woman is penalised for asking for time off for IVF appointments whereas a male colleague would not have been penalised for asking for the same amount of time off for hospital appointments. 


Once the ovum is successfully implanted, normal statutory rights to time off for antenatal care are triggered (see above) and normal protection from pregnancy and maternity discrimination applies (see page 200).