Employers should recognise IVF is medical treatment, says UK report

Employees undergoing fertility treatment need time off, say fertility campaigners in a new report.

A report published by Fertility Matters at Work, a UK campaign supporting fertility issues in the workplace, has urged changes in existing polices to ensure employees undergoing fertility treatment are granted time off work for appointments. A survey of more than 1000 employees, conducted by Fertility Matters at Work, revealed that 38 percent either left or considering leaving their workplace due to such treatment.

The report argues that the Equality Act does not currently provide sufficient protection for those undergoing fertility treatment, pointing to 'misleading wording' in the employment statutory code of practice, where an illustrative case study compares a woman who requests time off for IVF treatment with a man who requests time off for 'cosmetic dental surgery'. According to the report, some employers infer from this that IVF is elective treatment and that time off can be legitimately refused, whereas in the view of the report authors fertility treatment should be recognised by employers as a medical procedure.

'Many employers categorise [fertility treatment] as an elective procedure,' Becky Kearns, co-founder of Fertility Matters at Work told Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4. 'It isn't a choice... it is a medical procedure'.

Labour MP for Norwich North Alice Macdonald publicly expressed her support for the report and said: 'It is also frankly astonishing that, under the Equality Act code of practice, fertility treatment is compared to cosmetic dental surgery, meaning that employers often refuse time off for fertility appointments.'

The report also suggests a major gap between lived experiences of employees undergoing fertility treatment and how employers perceive them and provide support. For example, the survey revealed that 99 percent of employees considered fertility treatment as a 'significant life event', but only 36 percent felt that it was recognised at work as 'a significant life event that requires support'.

In addition to the attenuation of career progression in employees undergoing IVF treatment the report highlighted that fertility can have a major impact on emotional and mental health of employees. At least 99 percent of employees surveyed reported an impact on mental health wellbeing, while 87 percent reported experiencing anxiety or depression directly related to their fertility treatment.

The report emphasised the need for employer support, highlighting that about one in six people of working age are affected by fertility challenges globally and around 52,500 patients in the UK underwent IVF treatment in 2022 alone.

'We're facing a global fertility decline but failing to support those actively trying to start a family. It's time for employers and policymakers to step up,' said Kearns.

MacDonald has voiced her questions in parliament on making changes to existing laws to support rights of employees undergoing fertility treatment. In a recent debate on a review on parental leave she questioned the secretary of state for business and trade, MP Justin Madders, on considerations of obtaining leave for fertility treatment.

'I am afraid that it is not part of the review because we are looking at what happens at the point of birth, but I am happy to continue to engage with her on the wider points,' said Madders in response.