MP calls for legal right to paid time off for fertility treatment

The Government has been urged to introduce a legal right to paid time off for those undergoing fertility treatment and their partners to attend appointments.

Labour MP Alice Macdonald (Norwich North) said this is about “fairness” and that MPs should consider “whether we have a moral duty to level the playing field for those who at, no fault of their own, find themselves struggling to get pregnant”.

She called on the Government to “right this wrong” as she introduced her 10-minute rule Bill in the Commons.

Speaking during National Fertility Awareness Week, Ms Macdonald said: “A single cycle of IVF typically involves five to seven appointments, often at short notice, the timing dictated by hormone levels and follicle development that cannot be predicted.

“Throughout, you’re pumping your body full of hormones and drugs, which can have an extraordinary physical and emotional toll.”

She told MPs that the lack of a legal right to paid time off for fertility treatment means many women have had to hide what they are going through from their employers, have had to use all of their annual leave for these appointments and have even faced disciplinary action, all of which takes a toll on their physical and mental health.

Ms Macdonald argued that the situation is “deeply unfair and the disproportionate impact this has on women contributes to wider equality challenges, such as the gender pay gay and career progression”.

The Labour backbencher told the Government it is also “in our own national interest” to introduce a legal right to paid time off for fertility treatment, because the current situation is “a workforce crisis hiding in plain sight”.

She said: “We’re facing a global fertility decline, but failing to support those actively trying to start a family.

“Last year, fertility rates in England and Wales reached an all-time low, falling for the third year in a row to 1.41 children per woman.”

She said in order to even just maintain the same current population levels “it needs to be 2.1, so we need more people to have babies, and we should be helping those who wish to become parents and grow their families, who will be raising the future workers and taxpayers this country will depend upon”.

“It’s, of course, not the only solution to falling fertility rates, but it would help,” she added.

“And meanwhile, amid this climate of stigma of women being afraid of revealing they are undergoing treatment, there is a very real cost for British business.

“Without the right to receive time off, 63% of people take sick leave to attend appointments, and because many are concerned about telling their employers, they’re often taking whole days off to hide their appointments, instead of the few hours they actually require.”

Ms Macdonald noted that research published this week estimates that this is costing UK employers up to £54 million in unplanned sick leave every year.

While some companies have voluntarily decided to give paid time off for fertility treatment, the Labour MP argued: “Whether someone can attend their fertility appointment should not depend on luck of the draw, a kind manager or an understanding employer, it should be the norm for everyone.

“And in many other countries, bespoke employment legislation has already been developed. People in countries including South Korea and Malta are entitled to a right to paid time off for fertility treatment.”

She thanked the Government, both current and past ministers, for their “engagement” on the issue, and said: “I know that they are listening.”

Without Government support, the Bill is unlikely to go further.

Welcoming new family leave rights in the Employment Rights Bill, Ms Macdonald said: “We must look at fertility treatment too, because the pathway to parenthood, as I know myself, is not always easy.”

In 2023, 52,400 patients underwent IVF in the UK.