Doctors appointments Statutory Sick Pay etc

[happyseal]

Hi everyone,

I am hoping you are able to help me.

Do any of you know about getting time off for doctors appointments and procedures like egg retrieval/collection and embryo transfer? Were you able to get paid time off for these?

Also, in case you do the treatment abroad would you still be able to get the procedures booked as medical appointments instead of annual leave?

And what about Statutory Sick pay, if we do treatment abroad and we don't feel good afterwards can we still get statutory sick pay?

I am trying my third cycle,and going abroad as clinics in the UK are very expensive and NHS just wasted my better years just to tell me that I no longer could get IVF on NHS as my AMH end up dropping with all the waiting and other treatments, unfortunately.

The thing is that I have endometriosis and the IVF meds give me a lot of side effects and make me feel horrible. Egg retrieval was more painful than I expected as well.

So if I have these abroad and end up feeling poorly like last time,do any of you know if sick leave would still apply?

As per UK gov website if a person gets ill during holiday they can take it as sick leave instead of annual leave.

I asked my Team Leader but I just recently changed TL and the new one is not very helpful, sadly

Any tips would be appreciated,

Thank you

[Foxglove_daffodil]

hiya, I’m not really sure exactly how things work in practice. You’d hope your employer would be understanding and give you time off as necessary but legally it looks like you’re not entitled to time off for IVF treatment: acas.org.uk/your-maternity-...

Good luck and I hope your next round goes well x

[happyseal in reply to Foxglove_daffodil]

Thank you for the reply... I find it so odd that fertility treatment has this time of reaction when it is more and more common. One can only hope that maybe one day things will change.

[GoonerT29]

Hi, IVF appointments should be treated like any medical appointment so they should be granted however, there is no legal requirement for companies to do so or to pay you for your time off to attend the appointments. Check your company handbook on your medical appointment policy. Some companies do also have an IVF policy too so your handbook or HR department is your starting point. With regards to appointments abroad, your HR department will be able to advise, but you will either need to book holiday or take unpaid leave on those days. They may allow you to take it as appointments but I highly doubt you’ll be paid for those days. If you do fall sick on your return then your normal sickness policy will apply and SSP will kick in as normal after 4 straight days of sickness. You cannot be sick and on holiday at the same time so yes, if you fall sick whilst on holiday then you can ask for these days to be changed to sickness but again, you may need to think about this first as to whether you are paid for your sick time or not in case you can’t afford to change from holiday to sickness financially. Hope this helps xx

[happyseal in reply to GoonerT29]

Thank you for breaking this down. It helped a lot 😸

[HollyT7]

in our place they have an ivf policy saying it’s elective and no paid time off. I found it best not even mentioning to my work as they were less than understanding. If you had time off for hospital apts they’d request proof and there’s only so many gp and dentist appointments you can have. I had to take flexi or annual leave for collection etc. I eventually got signed off with aniexty for our second round and the gp put gynaecological issues, they couldn’t argue with that. If you think you’ll be off for any extended period of time I’d recommended speaking with your gp to get signed off. Work treated ivf as thought I was having a boob job.

[happyseal in reply to HollyT7]

Wow that sounds really frustrating.Thank you for the suggestion, I will speak to GP.

My work is understanding supposedly as there are policies etc, but managers don't know. And then it depends on the manager.

My previous manager was very understanding and helpful...maybe because she didn't have children and had friends who went through IVF, she could relate. But my current manager is not helping at all and feels like I have to fight for everything. That does help at all...

So a letter from GP is going to be very helpt.

Thank you ever so much 🙏

[silvervn]

Hi, I am just about to have my first transfer and I work in a school, I teach Reception so have 30 x 4-5 year olds. I am hoping to get signed off for a few days after transfer as my job i sincredibly stressful and physical. May I ask about how your GP signed off? I don't want them to sign me off with anxiety but even calling the GP is making me incredibly anxious (ironic I know), he is not understanding at all and quite rude. Thank you for any advice you can offer

[happyseal in reply to silvervn]

I am really sorry to hear that your GP is not understanding. TBH I try to ask for GP that have interest in gynaelogy and fertility as they understand things better and are more helpful.

Do you have a fixed GP? It may be worth calling the reception and ask if there's a Doctor at your surgery that has an interest in gynaelogy etc.

Are you doing your treatment on NHS?

Another thing that helps is that your fertility doctor can send a letter to your GP saying that you will need days off after transfer that you will be doing etc.

I find that if the GP gets a letter from specialist Doctor they argue less and just do what is requested.

Hope these suggestions help.

[silvervn in reply to happyseal]

Thank you so much, that’s really helpful I will speak to the clinic today. Yes it’s NHS. I get one round funded as I am based in the south. I really appreciate your response.