Redundancy protection to be extended for those taking maternity, adoption or shared parental leave
The Government has introduced regulations to make key changes to redundancy protection during certain statutory leave, with effect from 6 April 2024.
Background
Under the current law, if an employer makes an employee's role redundant when the employee is on maternity, adoption or shared parental leave, the employee must be given priority in the allocation of suitable alternative employment. The current protection lasts during the employee's leave and is removed once the employee is back at work.
For some time, the Government has spoken about extending this protection during pregnancy and for a period after the employee's return to work. The Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023 came into force in July 2023. The Act contains a power for regulations to be made to extend the current right as follows:
- The protection will apply from the date the employee notifies the employer of her pregnancy
- The protected period will be extended in order to apply for up to 18 months following the birth or adoption placement of the child.
Draft regulations
The Government has now introduced draft regulations to bring these new rights into effect. The extension to cover pregnancy applies where the employer is informed of the pregnancy on or after 6 April 2024. The extension of the protected period will apply to any maternity and adoption leave ending on or after 6 April 2024, and to shared parental leave of six consecutive weeks or longer, starting on or after 6 April 2024.
These regulations are currently in draft form and may be subject to scrutiny, debate and change as they progress. We will continue to report on developments.