Leave granted for medically assisted procreation/IVF

Through a legal notice published on 30^th May 2017 it became a legal right for employees to be able to request up to 100 hours in total of paid leave when going through the process of IVF or similar medical procedures. This was done in order to create minimum paid leave requirements to be available in both the public and private sectors for cases dealing with medically assisted procreation.

The legal notice states when leave may be taken by defining ‘medically assisted procreation’, as this leave may only be granted when it is needed for medical procedures falling within the definition. The law grants the employee the possibility of utilizing the leave at any point of the procedure without the hours having to be continuous in nature.

The 100 hours of leave would need to be divided between the two parents into 60 hours for the parent acting as the receiving person, and 40 hours for the other.  Both parents may take leave concurrently, even if they are employed by the same employer.  It is important to note that the 100 hours of leave may be granted for every process of medically assisted procreation. This shows how the leave is not just a one-time event, and it can be availed of for a maximum of 3 times.

When notifying the employer, the parent availing from this leave would have to do so in writing and must include reasonable proof and a medical certificate. The employer would need to be informed at least two weeks prior to the utilization of the leave.