The changes made to the law in April 2024
Before the 6th April 2024 pregnant employees or expecting parents, were only protected from redundancy whilst on maternity leave.
This period has now been extended and as long as you are;
a) an employee and are
b) pregnant, taking maternity leave, adoption leave or shared parental leave,
This extension of protection will apply.
We call this the ‘protected period’.
What this redundancy protection really mean?
It means that during periods of maternity, pregnancy, adoption leave, or shared parental leave employees have additional rights when at risk of redundancy.
In practice it means that if an employee is at risk of redundancy during the ‘protected period’ they have the right to be offered a suitable alternative job role before any colleagues who are also at risk of redundancy.
If there are not enough positions to offer all those with this protection suitable alternatives, then the most suitable employee should be chosen for the available positions, based on their skillset, experience and or knowledge of the job.

Timescales of protection
This timescale does depend on when the employer is told about the pregnancy and which type of leave is being taken.
The period of additional redundancy protection has the following timescales for each type of leave:
1. Pregnancy/Maternity Leave
Begins – when the employee informs their employer, they are pregnant.
Ends – 18 months after the date of the child’s birth.
In the case of a miscarriage in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy, the employee will still benefit from the same start point of protection, however the end date will be 2 weeks from the cessation of pregnancy.
With still births, the start date is again the same, but the protection from redundancy will end 18 months from the date of the birth.
2. Adoption Leave
Begins – on the day that the adoption leave starts.
Ends – 18 months from the adoption placement start date (or for overseas adoption, when the child enters the country).
3. Shared Parental Leave
Begins – the day the shared parental leave period starts.
Shared parental leave may be divided into separate periods of leave or taken as one continuous period.
Ends – the last day of that period of leave, if less than 6 weeks leave is taken, or 18 months from the child’s date of birth, if longer than 6 weeks/continuous leave is taken.
If prior to taking shared parental leave, another type of leave has been taken, then they will have the benefit of the protection period triggered from the original maternity or adoption leave.
If you would like more information about redundancy rights or how to deal with redundancies, please do not hesitate to contact a member of the Real Employment Law Team who will be happy to help. 01983 897003.