LEAVE FOR MEDICALLY ASSISTED PROCREATION NATIONAL STANDARD ORDER

PROCREATION NATIONAL STANDARD

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 452.114

LEAVE FOR MEDICALLY ASSISTED

PROCREATION NATIONAL STANDARD ORDER

30th May, 2017

LEGAL NOTICE 156 of 2017, as amended by Act XXIV of 2018 and Legal

Notice 263 of 2020.

(1)

The title of this order is the Leave for

Medically Assisted Procreation National Standard Order.

(2) The purpose of this order is to lay down minimum

requirements designed to grant a period of paid leave to employees

who undergo the process of medically assisted procreation, whether

in Malta or outside Malta.

(3) This order shall be applicable without prejudice to the

introduction and implementation of more favourable provisions in

collective agreements or other agreements entered into between the

employer and the employee.

(1)

In this order, unless the context otherwise

requires;

"the Act" means the Employment and Industrial Relations Act;

"medically assisted procreation" means all treatments or

procedures that include the in vitro handling of human oocytes,

spermatozoa or embryos for establishing a pregnancy. This includes,

but is not limited to, intra-uterine insemination, in vitro fertilization,

intracytoplasmic sperm injection, embryo transfer, gamete, germinal

tissue and embryo cryo-preservation and oocyte and embryo

donation;

"prospective parent" means any person, regardless of gender or

sexual orientation, who has attained the age of majority and is a

receiver or user of the medically assisted procreation techniques

regulated under the Embryo Protection Act;

(2) Subject to the provisions of sub-article (1), terms and

expressions used in this national standard order shall, unless the

context otherwise requires, have the same meaning assigned to them

by the Act.

(1)

The prospective parents who undergo the

process of medically assisted procreation, whether in or outside

Malta, shall be entitled to one hundred hours of leave for medically

assisted procreation with full pay between them, which leave shall be

paid by the employer.

PROCREATION NATIONAL STANDARD

(2) Leave for medically assisted procreation shall be utilised

at any time during the process of medically assisted procreation

Provided that the prospective parent acting as the

receiving person shall be entitled to sixty hours of leave; whereas the

other prospective parent shall be entitled to forty hours of leave

Provided further that there is nothing precluding the

prospective parents from utilising the aforementioned hours of leave

in a non-continuous manner

Provided finally that the entitlement to one hundred

hours of leave for medically assisted procreation with full pay shall

be granted for every process of medically assisted procreation, up to a

maximum of three processes.

(3) Leave for medically assisted procreation granted by this

order shall be utilised as follows

(a)

if only one of the prospective parents is in

employment during the process of medically assisted

procreation

(i)

sixty hours of leave shall be enjoyed by

that prospective parent acting as the receiving person;

(ii) forty hours of leave shall be enjoyed by

that prospective parent who is not acting as the receiving

person;

(b)

if both prospective parents are in employment,

whether with different employers or with the same employer,

during the process of medically assisted procreation, leave

may be enjoyed concurrently by both prospective parents.

(4) It shall be the responsibility of the employee who is a

prospective parent in terms of this order, who requests leave for

medically assisted procreation, to provide proof to the employer that

he is the receiving or the non-receiving person, and proof about the

employment status of the other prospective parent.

(1)

A single prospective parent, who is in

employment and who undergoes the process of medically assisted

procreation, provided that the process of the transfer of the embryo is

undertaken on the single prospective parent’s own body, whether in

or outside Malta, shall be entitled to sixty (60) hours of leave for

medically assisted procreation with full pay, which leave shall be

paid by the employer.

(2)

Leave for medically assisted procreation shall be

PROCREATION NATIONAL STANDARD

utilized at any time during the process of medically assisted

procreation

Provided that, there is nothing precluding the

prospective parent from utilising the aforementioned hours of leave

in a non-continuous manner

Provided also that, the entitlement to sixty (60) hours of

leave for medically assisted procreation with full pay shall be granted

for every process of medically assisted procreation, up to a maximum

of three (3) processes.

(3) It shall be the responsibility of the employee who is a

prospective parent and who requests leave for medically assisted

procreation in terms of this article, to provide proof to the employer

that the employee is the receiving person.

(1)

Where two (2) prospective parents undergo the

process of medically assisted procreation, whether in or outside

Malta, and one (1) of the prospective parents is a human oocyte donor

and the other prospective parent is the receiving person, both (2)

prospective parents, who are in employment, shall be entitled to sixty

(60) hours of leave for medically assisted procreation with full pay,

which leave shall be paid by the employer.

(2) Leave for medically assisted procreation shall be

utilized at any time during the process of medically assisted

procreation

Provided that, there is nothing precluding the

prospective parent from utilising the aforementioned hours of leave

in a non-continuous manner

Provided also that, the entitlement to one-hundred and

twenty (120) hours of leave for medically assisted procreation with

full pay shall be granted one time for the human oocyte process.

(3) It shall be the responsibility of the employee who is a

prospective parent and who requests leave for medically assisted

procreation in terms of this article, to provide proof to the employer

that the employee is the prospective parent undergoing treatment.

(1)

A human oocyte donor, who is in employment,

and who is not a prospective parent in terms of this Order, shall still

be entitled to sixty (60) hours of leave with full pay, which leave shall

be paid by the employer.

(2) Such leave shall be utilized at any time during the

process of human oocyte donation

Provided that, there is nothing precluding the human

PROCREATION NATIONAL STANDARD

oocyte donor from utilising the aforementioned hours of leave in a

non-continuous manner

Provided also that, without prejudice to the rights of the

receiving person in accordance with this Order, the entitlement to

sixty (60) hours of leave as provided by this article, shall be granted

one time for the human oocyte process.

(3) It shall be the responsibility of the employee who

requests leave for human oocyte donation in terms of this article, to

provide proof to the employer that the employee is undergoing

fertility treatment.

(1)

Any employee who is a prospective parent and

who intends to avail himself of leave for medically assisted

procreation shall notify the employer in writing of the date or dates

when he intends to avail himself of such entitlement.

(2) The notification referred to in this article shall include a

written certification by the medical practitioner in charge of the

procedure of medically assisted procreation.

(3) The notification referred to in this article shall be given

to the employer at least two weeks before the utilisation of the leave

for medically assisted procreation begins, in so far as is reasonably

practicable.

In those cases where the prospective parent wishes to

avail himself of the leave for medically assisted procreation in a non-

continuous manner in terms of the first proviso to article 3(1), he

shall present his employer with relevant certification every time he

wishes to use part of that leave, and such certification shall be

forwarded to the employer at least two working days before each part

of the leave commences.

The leave for medically assisted procreation is to be

granted independently and irrespectively of any other kinds of leave

granted by the Act or by any legislation issued thereunder.

An employee who is a prospective parent and who

intends to or avails himself of leave in terms of this order shall not be

dismissed by the employer by reason of the intention or availing

himself of such leave.

Any person contravening the provisions of this order

shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable, on conviction, to a

fine (multa) of not less than five hundred euro (€500).