From 28th October to 3rd November, the Fertility Network UK are raising awareness through to a wider audience. They are supporting employees and employers on fertility education and fertility in the workplace. Infertility is becoming a real issue where ‘1 in 6 couples in the UK are affected and majority of whom are likely to be in employment’ (Fertility UK Network).
The IVF medical procedure has risen since 2016 by 2.5% with over 75,000 IVF cycles being carried out in the UK in 2017 (HFEA Regulator). Therefore, it is important for employers to understand employees’ rights during this medical procedure and the impact this may have on their physical and emotional well-being.
What is IVF?
IVF is a procedure to help individuals with fertility problems. During IVF, the doctor takes the egg out of the woman’s ovaries to fertilise with a sperm in a lab. One or more fertilised eggs are placed back into the uterus and pregnancy would occur if any of the embryos implant in the lining of the uterus.
Many employees may be afraid to discuss their IVF treatment with their employers due to the lack of support and the culture within the organisation as seen in many news reports recently. Juggling work and IVF can become stressful for employee’s and employees may need to request time off at short notice.
Although employee’s have no statutory right for time off work to undergo IVF treatment, it is important to consider that the Equalities and Human Rights Commission Code recommends that employers treat any requests by employee’s compassionately. Consequently, organisations may wish to ensure their company policies allow employees to have time off for medical appointments and this also includes any appointment relating to IVF treatment.
At what point is the employee legally regarded as pregnant?
Employees should inform their employer once the embryo has been transferred into the woman’s uterus, this step is also known as the ‘embryo transfer’. After this stage, if the egg implants in the lining of the uterus, she will be legally regarded as pregnant. However, the woman must wait for 2 weeks before taking a pregnancy test. Hence, the issue for employers and employees is the ambiguity. As per ACAS advice, it is important to regard the employee as pregnant from the embryo transfer stage and this would protect the employee from any unfair treatment due to pregnancy.
The employee remains protected from any discrimination during her pregnancy and until her maternity leave comes to an end. Once the pregnancy has proved positive, the employee must confirm her pregnancy in writing to her employer.
What happens if the pregnancy proves negative?
The employee’s protected period would end two weeks after being informed her implantation has been unsuccessful. However, it is still important to not discriminate outside of the protected periods since there may be a risk of a sex discrimination claim.
How do we deal with absences relating to IVF?
Employee’s may be unfit to work due to the side effects of the IVF treatment. Therefore, they may have absence from work and may provide a doctor’s medical certificate. However, these absences that are related to IVF treatment should not be included in the absence management procedure which triggers some form of action. Employers should keep note of these absences separately.
For further guidance on fertility in the workplace please cal our experts on 0333 240 7208 or contact us today.
