Legislation
The Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act
Date
6 April 2024
Summary
The Act came into force on 6th April 2024 and extends the previous period of protection against redundancy to six months following their return to work.
Previously pregnant employees had a wide range of additional rights, under various legislation, with varying periods of protection under each.
Amongst such protection, employees on maternity leave, adoption leave, or shared parental leave had the right to be offered a suitable alternative vacancy, if available, before being made redundant.
They had priority over other redundant employees in relation to such vacancies.
For employees on maternity leave, this right ran from the commencement of their maternity leave, throughout their ordinary maternity leave (OML), until the end of the additional maternity leave period (AML), regardless of when they returned.
The Act has extended this protection:
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For any employee who returns / has returned from maternity leave, on or after, 6 April 2024, to six months after the end of maternity leave.
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For any employee informing their employer of their pregnancy on or after 6 April 2024. They will be protected during their pregnancy and for six months after the end of maternity leave, providing almost two years of protection.
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and those who have recently returned from adoption leave or shared parental leave.
The change in legislation has therefore been understood to mean:
- If the employer is informed of the pregnancy before 6 April 2024, the employee is protected from redundancy during their period of (OML) and (AML) only, and not during their pregnancy.
However, there are no transitional provisions expressly stating that employee notices given before 6 April 2024 fall outside the new rules applicable from 6 April 2024.
Therefore, it could be argued that an employer who has been ‘informed’ of an employee’s pregnancy before 6 April 2024, continues to be so ‘informed’ after that date.
ACAS advices employees to re-inform their employers after 6 April 2024 to avoid any doubt.
Important: The ACAS guidance on redundancy protection for pregnancy and new parents recommends this course of action.
Shared parental leave
An employee may rely on equivalent protection under the Shared Parental Leave Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/3050, reg 39), to be offered a suitable alternative vacancy if their role is made redundant during a period in which they’re taking shared parental leave.
Adoption leave
Employees will now receive the same period of protection following their return from ordinary adoption leave (OAL) and additional adoption leave (AOL), providing the employee has taken at least six weeks of continuous shared leave after 6 April 2024.
Stillbirth and miscarriage
- Protection is extended for employees who have a miscarriage – the protected period begins when the employee tells the employer that they are pregnant.
- If an employee has a miscarriage within the first 24 weeks of pregnancy, the redundancy protected period remains as two weeks from the end of the pregnancy.
- If a child is stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy, the redundancy protected period is now extended to 18 months from the date of the birth/six months after the AML period.
Maternity guide
When your employee tells you they’re pregnant, there’s a lot to do. And organising a chunk of leave for your employee is just the tip of the iceberg. From Statutory Maternity Pay,…