Alice Macdonald, Labour MP for Norwich North, said 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.
She said some women use all their annual leave for these appointments and have even faced disciplinary action – taking a toll on their physical and mental health.
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 said the situation is “deeply unfair and the disproportionate impact this has on women contributes to wider equality challenges, such as the gender pay gap and career progression”.
READ MORE: Eight babies born from pioneering IVF technique to prevent devastating disease
Ms Macdonald said it is “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: “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, up to 63pc 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 said new research estimates that is costing UK employers up to £54m in unplanned sick leave every year.
She said some companies, such as Aviva in Norwich, voluntarily gave paid time off, but that should not “depend on the luck of the draw” or a “kind manager” and should be “the norm for everyone”.
READ MORE: Norwich woman’s petition to change NHS fertility testing
But Patrick Milnes from the British Chambers of Commerce said there was already concern amongst businesses about the potential for “over legislation” in anticipation of the Employment Rights Bill in particular, which will seek to ease rules on flexible working.
He told the BBC: “Small and medium businesses in particular have been talking to us about how concerned they are about navigating different types of legislative leave.
“Most employers that we speak to are doing this kind of thing anyway as a matter of good practice.
“If you legislate, those processes can become more complicated it can become more burdensome, and actually in many instances it’s easier to do these things on a case by case, ad hoc basis.
“There’s a middle ground between having nothing at all and having a full legislated process that might be overwhelming in some instances.”
The House of Commons agreed to add the bill to the register of parliamentary business.
While 10-minute rule bills rarely become law, they are a way of drawing attention to issues which can lead to further bills at later dates.
