Time off for IVF: UK employer guide

No. Acas says there is no legal right to paid time off for IVF appointments, and no legal right to time off work for IVF treatment as such. What Acas does say is that employers should treat a worker's IVF appointments the same as any other medical appointment.

In practice that means applying your normal approach to medical appointments: if your contract or policy gives paid or unpaid time off for appointments, IVF appointments should get the same treatment. Acas also says it is a good idea to be open to requests for flexible working, paid time off, unpaid time off or holiday.

Acas notes that a full cycle of IVF takes around 3 to 6 weeks to complete, and someone might need more than one cycle. Appointments are often booked at short notice around the treatment timetable, so a flexible approach is usually easier to manage than case-by-case negotiation.

Only if your contract or policy says so. Because Acas treats IVF appointments like other medical appointments, and Acas says time off for medical appointments might be unpaid, the starting point is whatever your policy gives for medical appointments generally.

Paid antenatal time off is different. It is a statutory right for pregnant employees, but it applies to antenatal care during a pregnancy, not to fertility treatment before one. GOV.UK also says employees cannot take time off for antenatal appointments until they have told their employer about the pregnancy.

Acas says that when a worker reaches the embryo transfer stage, they have the same rights as a pregnant worker. They do not have to tell their employer at this stage, but Acas says it can help because the employer could then offer support.

If an employer knows a worker might be pregnant, the worker is protected against discrimination. Acas points out it can take several more weeks for a pregnancy test to confirm whether the pregnancy is successful, so the protection covers that waiting period too.

The underlying law is section 18 of the Equality Act 2010, which makes it unlawful to treat a woman unfavourably because of her pregnancy, or because of pregnancy-related illness, during the protected period. Where a woman does not go on to have maternity leave, the protected period ends 2 weeks after the end of the pregnancy.

Acas says a worker whose IVF is unsuccessful is still protected against pregnancy discrimination, and is protected by law for 2 weeks after finding out. Decisions about their job, pay or absence made in that window because of the treatment carry real legal risk.

Finding out that IVF was unsuccessful can be upsetting. Acas suggests an employer might allow the person to work flexibly so they can recover. Short-notice holiday, a few days of unpaid leave or a temporary change of hours are all reasonable things to offer, and any absence caused by illness should be handled under your sickness policy.

Acas says employers should treat IVF-related sickness the same as any other sickness. If the employee is too unwell to work, for example after a procedure or because of side effects, record it as sickness and apply your normal sick pay rules.

Be careful with attendance triggers. Once the employee has reached embryo transfer, section 18 of the Equality Act protects against unfavourable treatment because of pregnancy-related illness during the protected period, so counting that absence against a Bradford Factor or warning trigger is risky. The simplest approach is to exclude fertility-related absence from triggers altogether.

There is no statutory right for a partner to take time off for fertility treatment appointments. The general medical-appointments approach in your policy, holiday or unpaid leave are the usual routes.

Once there is a pregnancy, partners do have a limited statutory right. Under section 57ZE of the Employment Rights Act 1996, an employee in a qualifying relationship with a pregnant woman, including a husband, civil partner or a partner of either sex living with her in an enduring family relationship, can take time off to accompany her to up to 2 antenatal appointments, for up to 6.5 hours each. Acas says this time off is usually unpaid.

GOV.UK says all employees have the legal right to request flexible working, and can make a request from their first day in a job. An employee going through IVF might ask for changed start times, home working on treatment days or a temporary reduction in hours.

Acas encourages employers to be open to these requests. A short informal arrangement for the length of a treatment cycle is often simpler than a permanent contract change, and you can still use the statutory process if the employee wants a formal change.

A written policy means employees know what to expect without having to disclose more than they want to, and managers apply the rules consistently. Keep it short and practical.

Fertility treatment is sensitive health information, so record as little detail as you need. A neutral leave type such as "medical appointment" or "fertility treatment" keeps the time separate from holiday and sickness without putting medical detail in front of everyone who can see the calendar.

In Leavely you can create a separate leave type with its own yearly allowance and half-day booking, and choose whether it applies to everyone or only selected employees, so appointments are tracked without touching holiday balances or sickness records.