Two women sat on sofa - one pregnant, one holding a baby
Employment protections extended for pregnant women and new parents

Back in 2019, the Government consulted on extending redundancy protections for pregnant women and new parents, amidst concerns that some were being unfairly dismissed or treated so poorly they had no choice but to leave their job.

Following that consultation, the Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act (which was passed on 24 May 2023) allowed the Government (by secondary regulations) to extend existing redundancy protections to cover:

  • periods of pregnancy; and
  • a period of time after an employee has returned from maternity, adoption or shared parental leave.

Pregnancy and maternity leave

Following the secondary regulations being laid before parliament, from 6 April this year, the redundancy protection period was extended during pregnancy and maternity, and now:

  • starts when an employee tells their employer that they are pregnant; and
  • ends 18 months from the exact date the baby is born.

Adoption leave

From 6 April adoptive parents saw the redundancy protection period extend to cover the period that:

  • starts on the day someone's adoption leave begins; and
  • ends 18 months from either:
    • the date the adoption placement starts
    • the date the child enters England, Scotland or Wales, if it's an overseas adoption

Shared parental leave

Finally, for someone taking shared parental leave the redundancy protected period was also extended from 6 April and now:

  • starts on the day a period of shared parental leave begins.

The end date will depend on of whether the employee takes:

  • less than six weeks leave – the protected period ends on the last day of the block of leave; or
  • six weeks or more of continuous leave – the protected period ends 18 months from the date of the child's birth

 

This article reflects the position at the date of publication shown above. If you are reading this at a later date you are advised to check that that position has not changed in the time since. 

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