Pregnancy and maternity protection

The government last month confirmed it was backing the Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Bill, giving pregnant women and new parents more protection against redundancy. Currently, the Maternity and Parental Leave Regulations 1999 require employers to offer employees on maternity, parental or adoption leave a suitable alternative vacancy, if one exists, as an alternative to redundancy. Employees on this kind of child-related leave must be treated more favourably than other potentially redundant employees. The new bill allows this protection to be extended to pregnant women (who remain in work, before maternity leave has started) and new parents returning to work after a period of maternity, parental or adoption leave.

The intention of the new policy is to extend the existing redundancy protection over a greater period, starting with the date when an employee tells her employer about her pregnancy and ending 18 months after the birth.  This will allow women an extra 6 months of protection, often an additional six months after they return from maternity leave.

This policy stems from a private members bill backed by Dan Jarvis MP, who says the reason for the bill is that tens of thousands of women are ‘pushed out of the workforce each year simply for being pregnant’. The government says that this change will help to shield new parents from discrimination and give them more job security at an ‘important and precious’ time. They also say that it will be beneficial to businesses as well, because it will reduce potentially costly and time-consuming conflict and create better employment relationships. Arguably, it will also ensure that employers retain the vital skills and experience of women and other parents who take time off when they have children.