Fertility Treatment...time off work....

FairyElephant_2

I've had a search on the web, but can't find what I need so hping you lovely MSEers will be able to help.

Am I entitled to time off work for Fertility Treatment?
Do I need to tell my employer why I need the time off?

DH and I have reached the end of the line and IVF (well ICSI) is the only chance left for us.
My employer doesn't know I have been seeing a Fertility Specialist - I have always just said 'Doctor's appointment' if I've needed to go in work time, and he has been fine....but I know that if we go ahead with the IVF I will need some whole days off, and maybe 'recovery time' after egg collection operations etc. so I just don't know what to tell them.

DH and I work for the same company, albeit in different offices. Very few people know about our fertility problems, no-one who we work for/with knows, and we would prefer to keep it that way if possible.

Any help/advice greatly appreciated - it is worrying me and adding yet another level of stress which I could do without!

Thanks

FE

honeypop

Info I have found on this is: there is no law that governs the right to time off for fertility treatment, like there is for ante-natal appointments. Some employers offer paid leave and some allow discretionary unpaid leave, but in most cases, staff have to take sick leave or holiday.

You might want to let someone know, so they can be sure what is involved regarding potentially needed longer off and covering your work.

mattogier

I guess you could ask for time off for medical treatment - you could probably get a letter from the GP with out saying WHAT the treatment was for.

It depends on the relationship you have with your employer (and how big it is)

ATEOTD you could always (both) book it out as a holiday - that way you keep it very private.

honeypop

mattogier wrote: »

I guess you could ask for time off for medical treatment - you could probably get a letter from the GP with out saying WHAT the treatment was for.

I found this (which kind of relates to that post):

Employment law specialist Helen Badger says many employers are not willing to allow staff to take sick leave for IVF because they believe fertility treatment is voluntary, rather than a medical treatment for a medical condition. "It's a grey area, but the situation is that many employers don't pay sick leave if someone is undergoing voluntary treatment," she explains. However, she says employers have to allow staff to take sick leave for IVF if they are deemed unfit to work. "Most people going through IVF can go to their GP and say they need some time off, and would find it fairly easy to get a medical certificate to say they are not fit to work, which would put the employer in a difficult situation."

Full article http://money.guardian.co.uk/workweekly/story/0,,1788918,00.html

Emmzi

If you have a lot of drs appts, you need to watch about triggered whatever 'attendance procedure' your company has - check the policy for guidance.

FWIW I'd take it as holiday and if there is any problem getting the dates you need, state it is for 'personal reaons'

Js_Other_Half

Ok - all my appointments up to the egg collection were on my own time - but my boss did know what I was doing. My clinic has all of their IVF appointments between 8am and 9.30 or so, so I'd always be in work by 10 and make up the time when I could.

The day of the egg collection was sick leave, as was the next couple of days. I then took annual leave after the embryo transfer, but I know some people got a sick note for that period.
I spent that fortnight doing very little and eating fresh pineapple...lol.
I had to go back to work the day after we'd been given the news that I was expecting - which was 2 weeks from the egg collection.

I wish you and your husband all the luck in the world - if it helps, one of my colleagues is on maternity leave with twins via ICSI at first attempt.

dawnybabes

My clinic also had am appointments so I called there on the way in and was always in the office by 9.30, just worked through dinner and made the time up.

Luckily all but one of my of my ET/collection fell on weekends so didn't have to explain anything. The one that did I just told my bosses I was having womens problems and needed a little op (they never asked for details - too embarassed)

Good luck

FairyElephant_2

Thank you all for your advice, and congrats to the ladies for whom it has worked.

I would take holiday - I have already taken days holiday for appointments this year - but unfortunately I don't get as much Annual Leave in this job as I used to in my old one (got made redundant and took this job as although lower paid it is local and relatively stress-free, so I though it would be a good idea while we were TTC - not that I expected it to take so long or to be where we are now of course) and we have to keep 4 days for Christmas Shutdown this year.....so I only actually have 1 day left to take this year!!!

I was thinking of playing the 'women's stuff' card, as my boss and the staff I immediately work with are all blokes they probably won't ask for details! the girls in head office that I deal with on the phone might be a different matter though.....so 'it's personal - I'd rather not talk about it' may have to suffice.

Thanks again,

FE

FairyElephant_2

Thank you all for your advice, and congrats to the ladies for whom it has worked.

I would take holiday - I have already taken days holiday for appointments this year - but unfortunately I don't get as much Annual Leave in this job as I used to in my old one (got made redundant and took this job as although lower paid it is local and relatively stress-free, so I though it would be a good idea while we were TTC - not that I expected it to take so long or to be where we are now of course) and we have to keep 4 days for Christmas Shutdown this year.....so I only actually have 1 day left to take this year!!!

I was thinking of playing the 'women's stuff' card, as my boss and the staff I immediately work with are all blokes they probably won't ask for details! the girls in head office that I deal with on the phone might be a different matter though.....so 'it's personal - I'd rather not talk about it' may have to suffice.

Thanks again,

FE

Nicki

The trouble with using holiday, particularly for egg collection, is that you won't be able to tell with any certainty when this will be. If your experience is like mine, you will only get 24 hours notice (ie after one of the regular checks, you will be told to deliver the trigger injection that day and come in 24 hours later for collection). If you need to give a certain amount of notice for holiday, that won't be enough. You will also then not have any time left over for putting the embryos back.

I'd be inclined to come clean, and ask for unpaid time off. I know that you don't want everyone knowing your personal business but my experience is that with this kind of thing, honesty is the best policy, as women can be nasty, vicious gossips, particularly about women's health issues. I've definitely heard it being said of female colleagues that they have had time off to have an abortion (or more than one sometimes), when the truth is very different but something the poor woman has wanted to keep private. IVF is relatively common these days, and you may find if you come clean that you will get more sympathy and consideration than you ever expected.

Hope it does all work out for you. When I went through my one and only experience of IVF, I was very disappointed to be told after taking all the first injections that I had not developed enough eggs to make them viable to collect, so was thrilled to discover 2 weeks later that one of the eggs which they hadn't been able to collect had fertilised naturally, and never had to go through the full monte. We now describe our DS as a "failed IVF" to the perplexment of friends!

Js_Other_Half

To second Nicki's post above, I was only told on the Saturday morning that I'd be having the egg collection on the Monday - obviously it was impossible to tell work before the Monday.
I'd told my boss I'd be off at some point the next week, but couldn't tell her when. I'd made sure all my paperwork was completely up to date when I'd left work, and also had written a brief summary of things in case anyone else needed to know stuff before I came back.