Extended Redundancy Protection

With effect from 6 April 2024, the Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023 will be amended to extend redundancy protection beyond maternity, adoption and shared parental leave. 

What is changing?

Under current legislation, employees will be protected whilst on maternity, adoption or shared parental leave. This protection gives those individuals the automatic right to any suitable alternate roles available if they are placed at risk of redundancy, regardless of whether there is a more suitable candidate for the role. As of 6 April, this right will also extend beyond the period of family leave

In the case of:

Pregnancy & maternity leave – the protected period will commence from the date the employee notifies their employer they are pregnant and will end 18 months after the Expected Week of Childbirth or actual birth date (if they inform their employer of this before the end of their maternity leave). 

Miscarriages, medical terminations & still births – In the event that the pregnancy ends before the 24^th week of pregnancy, the protected window shall extend to the two weeks which directly follow. If the pregnancy ends after 24 weeks, the protected period will remain for the entire statutory leave period.

Adoption leave – the protected period will commence from the date the adoption leave starts and will end 18 months after the child’s adoption placement.

Shared Parental Leave (SPL) – the protected period will commence from the date Shared Parental Leave starts for those taking at least six consecutive weeks of SPL who haven’t taken maternity or adoption leave. It will then end 18 months after the date of the child’s birth or placement. However, for those taking less than 6 weeks SPL, the current protection measures will remain unchanged and as such, will end at the end of SPL.

How will this impact your business?

The legislative changes may result in an increase in the number of employees with redundancy protection in your business. 

It is now more important than ever to ensure you have detailed records regarding pregnancy notification and other relevant dates, so that you can calculate protected periods accurately. Failure to comply could result in automatic unfair dismissal claims against the business. 

Guidance and training should be provided on the implementation of these laws and policies updated accordingly. Employers must be proactive when predicting when redundancy protection will apply and ensure all alternate roles are considered as part of their redundancy process. 

There is currently no law on what to do when there is more than one priority status employee at risk of redundancy. If you are facing this situation, please seek advice on how to derive fair, non-discriminatory selection criteria.