A Bill to make provision for protection from redundancy during or after pregnancy or after periods of maternity, adoption or shared parental leave, is one step closer to becoming law.

Having successfully passed through the House of Commons, the Bill’s first reading at House of Lords took place on 6 February. This stage is a formality that signals the start of the Bill's journey through the Lords.

Its second reading - the general debate on all aspects of the Bill - is scheduled for 3 March.

If the Bill is eventually passed and becomes law, the legislation will be extended to apply redundancy protection to include pregnant women and new workers. At the moment, only employees on maternity leave, shared parental leave or adoption leave have the benefit of what is often called ‘additional redundancy protection’. This additional redundancy protection is that (broadly speaking) if their role is at risk of redundancy, they must be offered a suitable vacancy where one exists.

This protection will now include pregnant women and new parents. It will begin when the employee discloses the fact that they are pregnant and will continue until the child is 18 months old. This means that if an employee takes the full 52-week maternity leave, they will continue to be protected against redundancy for a further 26 weeks following their return to work.

The aim of the change is to try and reduce women being ‘pushed out’ of the workplace because they are either pregnant, or have just recently had a baby. These two categories do not currently have the benefit of the additional protection from redundancy. The government believes this should help shield new parents and expectant mothers from workplace discrimination and offer them greater job security at a very important time in their lives.

The key legal rights of pregnant workers include:

• All workers are protected against discrimination because of pregnancy or childbirth.
• It is discriminatory to dismiss or treat unfairly because a mother-to-be or new parent has taken maternity leave or exercised any of their maternity rights at work.
• Workers have the same rights whether they are full-time, part-time, term-time only, fixed-term, temporary or an apprentice.
• Paid time off for antenatal care (this is not just medical appointments – it can also include antenatal or parenting classes if they’ve been recommended by a doctor or midwife).
• Maternity leave – an employee must take a minimum of two weeks off (compulsory leave) after the baby is born – or four weeks if they work in a factory.
• Maternity pay or maternity allowance.

This is not intended to be a full list of rights and simply indicative of the legal protection and rights of pregnant workers.

You can access further information on the Bill’s route through Parliament here: Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Bill – Parliamentary Bills – UK Parliament.

Laura Kelleher is a Solicitor with DC Employment Solicitors.