Is there a right to time off for IVF appointments? 





There is currently 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 is not pregnancy or maternity discrimination because the woman is not yet pregnant. However, an employer who refuses time off will commit 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. There could also be gender-based harassment if the woman is picked on for asking for time off. 



At the advanced stages of IVF, the European Court of Justice has ruled that a woman is entitled to protection from direct sex discrimination without needing to compare herself to a man, because only women can undergo invasive IVF treatment (see Chapter 7, page 227). 





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