All work and no play – redundancy and pregnancy/maternity leave

A lot can change in a year.

For a pregnant woman, leaving work to go on maternity leave, the major change is obvious – the arrival of a new baby! But in these economic times, it’s entirely possible that during a year of adjusting to becoming a parent (again?!), there could be another big adjustment heading your way…

…being told that you won’t have a job to go back to.

Redundancy during pregnancy and maternity leave is a bit of a minefield. With an imminent bump or a young baby to look after, worrying about money and work is one of the last things you want to be doing. As a Union Rep for a workplace that’s currently going through restructure after restructure, it’s something that I’m often asked about (and in fact involved in myself too), so here is what your employer can and can’t do:

They CAN make you redundant

but

They CAN’T make you redundant just because you are pregnant or on maternity leave and therefore ‘your job is not needed at the moment’.

They CAN end your maternity leave early (after issuing the statutory or contractual notice period, whichever applies)

but

They CAN’T refuse to pay your statutory maternity pay (assuming you have met the qualifying criteria for length of employment and being within 15 weeks of the estimated date of confinement).

They CAN offer you a ‘suitable alternative’ role

but

they CAN’T just give you any old job to come back to.

They CAN make you redundant prior to 15 weeks before the estimated date of confinement and not pay any maternity pay (but this doesn’t mean you won’t get any maternity pay at all as the state will pay it for you assuming you meet the qualifying criteria for N.I. contributions and length of employment prior to redundancy.)

They CAN’T hold consultation meetings and not keep you informed or involved. This is classed as discrimination.

They CAN’T expect you to attend interviews to reapply for suitable alternative jobs whilst on maternity leave. Regulation 10 of the Maternity and Parental Leave Regulations 1999 gives a right to be offered one of the suitable alternative jobs automatically. If there is a disagreement over whether a job can be considered a ‘suitable alternative’ then the decision will be made by an employment tribunal.

So, given the above, it seems I’m about to become a stay at home mum, at least for a little while. One big life change after another! Wish me luck…