Women who are made redundant while pregnant have long been entitled to a right of first refusal. That right has until now started only when she has started maternity leave. A new Bill proposes to improve on this right. If you would like to read it, the link to the Bill is here.
We’ve written articles before on the problems faced by pregnant women in the workplace.
The current law is that the so-called ‘protected period’ under the Equality Act 2010 starts with conception and ends with the end of maternity leave (whether she takes ordinary or additional leave). I.e. if, because of a reorganisation, she faces being made redundant while pregnant then if there is a suitable alternative vacancy for her, the employer must offer it to her. This is the case even if there are better-suited male or non-pregnant female candidates for it.
The proposed new law
A proposed law extending protection against maternity redundancy, is going through the process of being made into law. After the bill is law, it will allow the government to start this right from the moment the employer knows about the pregnancy, or even to conception. Also, it could result in the right to end after maternity leave has ended, perhaps even until the child is a certain number of months or years old.
A study by the Equality and Human Rights Commission estimated that 54,000 women a year are made redundant due to pregnancy. Many hurdles limit the number of women who are redundant due to pregnancy and who lodge a discrimination claim. These include the cost of a trial, which can go into the tens of thousands. The three-month limit on bringing unfair dismissal claims is currently being challenged by women’s charity Pregnant Then Screwed, who are campaigning for the government to extend this to six months (like the time limit for equal pay claims), allowing more women, they say, to challenge discrimination.
The Bill may undergo more change before it becomes law.
Conclusion
Employment laws change with every new Government. Mostly, new laws have brought new protections from employees, while we were members of the European Union. So it is interesting to see that after Brexit, the Conservative Government is still passing new laws to protect staff who are redundant while pregnant.
The bill will be sent to the House of Lords on Monday.
Image used under CC courtesy of Zeevveez.