From July 2023, the Protection Redundancy (Pregnancy & Family Leave) Act 2023 (Act) will allow the government to implement new protection for certain employees.
In a quick summary, the Act is effective, but regulations will follow in 2024. The Act gives enhanced rights to those who are pregnant or who have recently returned from parental leave to priority for redeployment in redundancy scenarios.
Prior to July 2023, women on maternity leave and employees on shared parental leave or adoption leave have had a level of priority over employee colleagues who may also be at risk of redundancy too. In basic terms, if a woman is on maternity leave, she has the right to be given a suitable alternative role over other employees – a breach of that obligation would attract a claim for auto-unfair dismissal.
So, what exactly could the Act do?
It extends the protection in place now to:
More specific regulations will follow, albeit they’re unlikely to be in place until 2024. We will update you when we know more.
In the meantime, be aware that when consulting on redundancy you may need to consider these new changes - following:
Remember, when offering suitable alternatives, the right of priority is triggered after selection – they can still be placed in the process with extra care for enhanced protection in mind. Also, you have to show an actual ‘offer’ when the rules apply, not a right to apply, there is a big difference in law.