Paid time off for prenatal appointments
Five of the six statutes in this table say a pregnant employee keeps her pay while she attends prenatal care, and Japan alone obliges the employer only to secure the time without saying who pays. They differ in the condition attached. Austria and Norway apply it when the check-up cannot reasonably be held outside working hours, Spain when it must fall inside the working day, and Germany simply bars any loss of earnings. Only the United Kingdom writes a right for a partner into the statute, capped at two appointments of six and a half hours each.
| Country | Time off for the pregnant employee | Paid? | Partner’s right to attend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | Absence for necessary pregnancy check-ups that cannot be held outside working hours | Yes: pay continues | |
| Germany | The time needed for the examinations covered by statutory health insurance in pregnancy and maternity | Yes: no loss of earnings may result | |
| Spain | The time indispensable for prenatal examinations, if they must take place within working hours | Yes: with the right to remuneration | |
| Japan | Employer must make it possible to secure the time needed for health guidance or examinations | ||
| Norway | Time off for prenatal check-ups that cannot reasonably take place outside working hours | Yes: time off with pay | |
| United Kingdom | Time off during working hours to keep an ante-natal appointment made on medical advice | Yes: at the appropriate hourly rate | Up to 2 appointments, at most 6.5 hours each, for a spouse, civil partner, cohabiting partner or the father |
Country by country
Austria
- Rule
- Mutterschutzgesetz 1979 § 3 Abs. 8
- The check-ups must be necessary and, in the words of the statute, not possible or not reasonable outside working time. The statute names the Mutter-Kind-Pass examinations as an example.
- The section gives no right to a partner and the guide does not claim there is none.
Ist die werdende Mutter durch notwendige schwangerschaftsbedingte Vorsorgeuntersuchungen, insbesondere solche nach der Mutter-Kind-Paß-Verordnung, BGBl. II Nr. 470/2001, die außerhalb der Arbeitszeit nicht möglich oder nicht zumutbar sind, an der Dienstleistung verhindert, hat sie Anspruch auf Fortzahlung des Entgelts. Germany
- Rule
- Mutterschutzgesetz §§ 7, 23
- The right also applies to a woman who is not covered by statutory health insurance. The time off is neither made up before nor after, and is not counted against rest breaks.
- The sections give no right to a partner and the guide does not claim there is none.
Der Arbeitgeber hat eine Frau für die Zeit freizustellen, die zur Durchführung der Untersuchungen im Rahmen der Leistungen der gesetzlichen Krankenversicherung bei Schwangerschaft und Mutterschaft erforderlich sind. Durch die Gewährung der Freistellung nach § 7 darf bei der schwangeren oder stillenden Frau kein Entgeltausfall eintreten. Spain
- Rule
- Estatuto de los Trabajadores art. 37.3.f
- The right sits in the list of paid absences in article 37.3, which requires prior notice and justification. The same paragraph covers preparation-for-birth techniques.
- The statute speaks of the worker generally and does not say whether a partner may take time to attend, so no partner right is shown.
La persona trabajadora, previo aviso y justificación, podrá ausentarse del trabajo, con derecho a remuneración, por alguno de los motivos y por el tiempo siguientePor el tiempo indispensable para la realización de exámenes prenatales y técnicas de preparación al partosiempre, en todos los casos, que deban tener lugar dentro de la jornada de trabajo Japan
- Rule
- 男女雇用機会均等法 第十七条
- The duty is on the employer, in the manner set by Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare ordinance, and refers to guidance and examinations under the Maternal and Child Health Act.
- The section does not say whether the time is paid and gives no right to a partner.
事業主は、厚生労働省令で定めるところにより、その雇用する女性労働者が母子保健法（昭和四十年法律第百四十一号）の規定による保健指導又は健康診査を受けるために必要な時間を確保することができるようにしなければならない。 Norway
- Rule
- Arbeidsmiljøloven § 12-1
- The right belongs to the employee who is pregnant. The section gives no right to a partner and the guide does not claim there is none.
Arbeidstaker som er gravid har rett til fri fra arbeidet med lønn i forbindelse med svangerskapskontroll dersom slike undersøkelser ikke med rimelighet kan finne sted utenfor arbeidstiden. United Kingdom
- Rule
- Employment Rights Act 1996 ss 55, 56, 57ZE
- The employer may ask for a certificate of the pregnancy and an appointment card, except for the first appointment. Section 57ZE gives the partner the right to be permitted time off but says nothing on pay; the tribunal remedy in section 57ZF is a payment of twice the hourly rate for the hours refused.
- Section 57ZE(7) lists who has a qualifying relationship: the husband or civil partner, a partner living with the woman in an enduring family relationship, the father of the expected child, a parent by virtue of sections 42 or 43 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008, or a potential applicant for a parental order.
is entitled to be permitted by her employer to take time off during the employee’s working hours in order to enable her to keep the appointment An employee who is permitted to take time off under section 55 is entitled to be paid remuneration by her employer for the period of absence at the appropriate hourly rate. In relation to any particular pregnancy, an employee is not entitled to take time off for the purpose specified in subsection (1) on more than two occasions.the maximum time off during working hours to which the employee is entitled is six and a half hoursthe person is the husband or civil partner of the pregnant womanthe person is the father of the expected child Countries not in this table yet
The United States, Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands and Sweden are not shown: the ingested statutes for those countries contain no provision on time off for prenatal appointments, or the provision sits in an act that is not ingested.
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LawAsked, “Paid time off for prenatal appointments”, https://lawasked.com/guides/prenatal-appointments-time-off (reviewed October 25, 2026).
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