Government consultation: Enhanced dismissal protections for pregnant women and new mothers

Publication details

• Publication date: 23 October 2025
• Closing date for responses: 15 January 2026 (11:59pm)
• Link to consultation: Make Work Pay: enhanced dismissal protections for pregnant women and new mothers
• Relevant Bill provisions: Clause 26 (Dismissal during pregnancy)

Purpose of the consultation

Pregnant employees are currently protected from unfavourable treatment, including dismissal, under the Equality Act 2010.  They also have existing protections against dismissal and redundancy related to pregnancy or maternity, including enhanced redundancy protection for up to 18 months after childbirth.

The government’s objective is to strengthen employment protections for pregnant employees and new mothers. It allows the Secretary of State to introduce secondary legislation on the dismissal of employees during or after the protected period of pregnancy.

The consultation seeks views on how these new protections will operate in practice and what additional measures could help address disadvantage linked to pregnancy and maternity in the workplace.

Summary of content and scope

The consultation aims to improve job security during and after maternity leave by enhancing dismissal protections for pregnant women and new mothers.  The proposals would restrict dismissal during a defined “protected period”, covering pregnancy, maternity leave and a period after return to work, except in specified circumstances where dismissal remains lawful.

The consultation also explores whether these protections should extend to other forms of family leave, including adoption, shared parental, neonatal care, and bereaved partner's paternity leave.

The main areas of the consultation include the circumstances in which dismissal should remain permitted, when protections should start and end, and how to improve awareness of these rights.

It does not include draft regulations, enforcement mechanisms or detailed guidance but builds on previous government initiatives, including recommendations from the Women and Equalities Select Committee.

Key proposals or areas for comment

The government is seeking views on a wide range of operational issues, including:

1. When dismissals should still be permitted - The government is considering two options:

a.      applying a stricter test of fairness to the current five fair dismissal reasons, or

b.      narrowing or removing some of these reasons entirely for pregnant employees and new mothers.

Illustrative examples include only allowing dismissals for gross misconduct, excluding capability as a reason, or allowing it only where continued employment would have a serious negative impact on the wellbeing of others.

2. When the protection starts - the consultation seeks views on whether the protection should be a day-one right or apply after a short initial period (for example a probationary period). It also considers when the protected period should start and end. Currently, the government intends it to either end 18 months after birth, aligning with current redundancy protections, or six months after returning to work.
3. Whether the protections should extend to other parents - including those taking adoption, shared parental, neonatal care or bereaved partner’s paternity leave.
4. How to raise awareness of rights - particularly among women from minority groups who may be less familiar with existing protections.
5. How to best support employers - including smaller organisations, to understand and implement the changes and minimise administrative burdens.
6. Mitigating unintended consequences - such as employer hesitancy to hire women of childbearing age or perceptions that enhanced protections create unfairness or strain workplace relationships.

Practical and policy considerations

The proposed enhanced protections represent a significant shift in rights for pregnant employees and new mothers.

For employers, key practical considerations include:

1. Enhanced protections may deter some employers from hiring women due to perceived complexity and the potential length of the protection period. Employers must ensure their hiring practices remain compliant with equality law.
2. Tracking the start and end of the protected period and managing overlapping family leave entitlements may create an additional administrative burden, particularly for smaller employers.
3. The consultation introduces new concepts such as “significant harm to the business” and “serious impact on the wellbeing of others”, but it remains unclear how these tests would operate in practice or whether they would extend beyond economic considerations to include workplace relationships.

Unresolved or omitted issues

Much of the detail around the new protections remains unclear. The consultation does not specify the consequences of breaching the proposed protections, leaving uncertainty around whether remedies would mirror those for unfair dismissal or align more closely with discrimination claims, which can include compensation for injury to feelings.

 It is also unclear how the new protections will interact with existing discrimination law, or whether employees would be expected to choose between bringing a claim under the new regime or under the Equality Act.

The consultation highlights that far more people experience unlawful treatment than bring tribunal claims, often due to cost, complexity, or concern about reputational impact. However, the proposed changes do not address how enforcement might be improved or how barriers to bringing claims could be reduced.

Finally, there is no information about transitional arrangements or the notice period employers will have before the changes take effect, although the consultation indicates that implementation is planned for 2027.

Analysis and observations

The consultation confirms the government's clear intention to enhance protections for pregnant employees and new mothers. However, it offers limited detail on how these protections will operate in practice and provides no clarity on enforcement or remedies.

Many key terms, such as the proposed tests for fairness or what would constitute “serious harm” to the business, remain undefined. It also remains uncertain how the new protections will sit alongside existing rights under discrimination and unfair dismissal law. Further consultation and detailed secondary legislation are therefore likely to be required before employers can fully assess the practical implications.