Job Protection
No Harmful Work
An employer has a legal duty to make the working environment safe for all employees, and particularly for women of childbearing age, to work in. This means that the employer must assess what health and safety risks are in the workplace, and specifically, what risks may be posed to pregnant women, women who are breastfeeding and women who have given birth in the past six months. Where there is a health and safety risk in the workplace, the employer must take action to eliminate the risk by: - taking any legal action required, for example, ensuring that pregnant women do not come into contact with hazardous chemicals; - altering the working conditions or hours of work so pregnant and new mothers are not put at risk; - offering the worker a different work at the same pay; - suspend the worker on medical grounds and pay the worker full wages (if offering different work is not possible)
If a pregnant worker has been in the job for at least one month, she has the right to be paid for up to 26 weeks of suspension.
Source: Regulation 16-18 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999; www.gov.uk/working-when-pregnant-your-rights
Protection from Dismissals
Termination or suspension of employment is unfair if the employee is terminated/suspended on the following grounds: a) pregnancy, childbirth or maternity b) ordinary, compulsory or additional maternity leave, c) ordinary or additional adoption leave, d) parental leave, e) ordinary or additional paternity leave or f) Time off for ante-natal care.
If a worker is dismissed or treated unfairly because of pregnancy, she can make a claim for discrimination and unfair dismissal to an employment tribunal.
Under the Reforms made to the UK unfair dismissal law, conciliation (a form of dispute resolution) is now mandatory. This will be provided by ACAS (The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service), which has published a new leaflet, Early Conciliation explained, which explains how the new early conciliation (EC) procedure is going to work.
Since 6 April 2024, redundancy protection has been extended. Where a redundancy situation arises, a pregnant employee or an employee in the relevant protected return-to-work period must be offered a suitable alternative vacancy, where one exists, ahead of other at-risk employees. For maternity cases, the protected period starts when the employee tells the employer about the pregnancy. Where the employee is entitled to statutory maternity leave, the additional post-leave protected period ends 18 months after the expected week of childbirth, unless the employee has told the employer the actual date of birth, in which case it ends 18 months after the birth. That protection is still about redundancy priority, not a general ban on dismissal. Wider dismissal protections for pregnant women and new mothers are provided for in the Employment Rights Act 2025, but the detailed regulations are still to be made and commencement is planned for 2027.
Source: §99 of the Employment Rights Act 1996; §20 of the Maternity and Parental Leave etc Regulations 1999, last amended in 2014; Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023
Right to Return to Same Position
A woman returning to work from Ordinary Maternity Leave is entitled to return to the job in which she was employed before her maternity leave on the same terms and conditions, and with the benefit of any general improvement in terms and conditions. A woman returning to work from Additional Maternity Leave has the same right, unless it is not reasonably practicable for her to return to the old job, in which case she is entitled to return to a job which is suitable and appropriate, and on no less favourable terms and conditions.
From 2027 (expected implementation), UK law will prohibit the dismissal of an employee who is pregnant, on maternity leave, or for at least six months after returning to work, except in specific circumstances (yet to be defined).
Source: §71(4c) of the Employment Rights Act 1996; §18 of the Maternity and Parental Leave etc. Regulations 1999, last amended in 2014; §25, 26 of the Employment Rights Act, 2025
Related Items
Maternity and WorkNo Harmful Work
An employer has a legal duty to make the working environment safe for all employees, and particularly for women of childbearing age, to work in. This means that the employer must assess what health and safety risks are in the workplace, and specifically, what risks may be posed to pregnant women, women who are breastfeeding and women who have given birth in the past six months. Where there is a health and safety risk in the workplace, the employer must take action to eliminate the risk by: - taking any legal action required, for example, ensuring that pregnant women do not come into contact with hazardous chemicals; - altering the working conditions or hours of work so pregnant and new mothers are not put at risk; - offering the worker a different work at the same pay; - suspend the worker on medical grounds and pay the worker full wages (if offering different work is not possible)
If a pregnant worker has been in the job for at least one month, she has the right to be paid for up to 26 weeks of suspension.
Source: Regulation 16-18 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999; www.gov.uk/working-when-pregnant-your-rights
Protection from Dismissals
Termination or suspension of employment is unfair if the employee is terminated/suspended on the following grounds: a) pregnancy, childbirth or maternity b) ordinary, compulsory or additional maternity leave, c) ordinary or additional adoption leave, d) parental leave, e) ordinary or additional paternity leave or f) Time off for ante-natal care.
If a worker is dismissed or treated unfairly because of pregnancy, she can make a claim for discrimination and unfair dismissal to an employment tribunal.
Under the Reforms made to the UK unfair dismissal law, conciliation (a form of dispute resolution) is now mandatory. This will be provided by ACAS (The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service), which has published a new leaflet, Early Conciliation explained, which explains how the new early conciliation (EC) procedure is going to work.
Since 6 April 2024, redundancy protection has been extended. Where a redundancy situation arises, a pregnant employee or an employee in the relevant protected return-to-work period must be offered a suitable alternative vacancy, where one exists, ahead of other at-risk employees. For maternity cases, the protected period starts when the employee tells the employer about the pregnancy. Where the employee is entitled to statutory maternity leave, the additional post-leave protected period ends 18 months after the expected week of childbirth, unless the employee has told the employer the actual date of birth, in which case it ends 18 months after the birth. That protection is still about redundancy priority, not a general ban on dismissal. Wider dismissal protections for pregnant women and new mothers are provided for in the Employment Rights Act 2025, but the detailed regulations are still to be made and commencement is planned for 2027.
Source: §99 of the Employment Rights Act 1996; §20 of the Maternity and Parental Leave etc Regulations 1999, last amended in 2014; Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023
Right to Return to Same Position
A woman returning to work from Ordinary Maternity Leave is entitled to return to the job in which she was employed before her maternity leave on the same terms and conditions, and with the benefit of any general improvement in terms and conditions. A woman returning to work from Additional Maternity Leave has the same right, unless it is not reasonably practicable for her to return to the old job, in which case she is entitled to return to a job which is suitable and appropriate, and on no less favourable terms and conditions.
From 2027 (expected implementation), UK law will prohibit the dismissal of an employee who is pregnant, on maternity leave, or for at least six months after returning to work, except in specific circumstances (yet to be defined).
Source: §71(4c) of the Employment Rights Act 1996; §18 of the Maternity and Parental Leave etc. Regulations 1999, last amended in 2014; §25, 26 of the Employment Rights Act, 2025
