Making Employees On Maternity Leave Redundant

If you are looking to make changes to your organisation, you may have affected employees who are on maternity leave.

Recent changes in employment legislation has meant that employers are needing to now offer suitable alternative employment to these employees in the event their jobs are at risk.

The Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act, 2023, covers pregnant employees and those who are on maternity and family leave. The changes came into force in April 2024.

It is lawful to make an employee redundancy if they are on maternity leave, providing it is a genuine redundancy situation, and you’ve not selected the employee because they are on maternity leave.

There are 3 reasons for a genuine redundancy situation:

• when the business closes down (inc temporarily);
• when the business relocates, and the employee cannot get to the new place of work;
• when fewer employees are required for the current work.

What is a redundancy protection period?

The ‘redundancy protected period’ is the length of time an employee is protected from redundancy. How much protection the employee is entitled to will depend on

1. The type of leave they are taking;
2. When they tell their employer they are pregnant.

The redundancy protection period during pregnancy and maternity leave starts when an employee tells their employer that they are pregnant and ends 18 months from the exact date the baby is born.

If an employee does not tell their employer the date of birth, the employer can use the expected week of childbirth (EWC) is when the 18 month protected period ends.

Example of a redundancy protected period in pregnancy

A pregnant employee has their baby in December 2024. This employee is then selected for redundancy in January 2026. This is less than 18 months since the employee had her baby. The employer must then offer the employee a suitable alternative role, if there is one, as a priority over and above any other employee.

What if there are no vacancies that are suitable?

If there are no suitable alternative vacancies, the employer can make the employee redundant during pregnancy, maternity, adoption and shared parental leave, as long as there is a genuine redundancy situation. The employer must follow a fair selection process. The reason for selection cannot be that they are on maternity leave (or are pregnant or on any other family leave). The employer must also consult with the employee.

Redundancy pay

Employees who are made redundant do have the right to:

• Statutory redundancy pay (or contractual, if greater)
• Notice pay
• Accrued and untaken annual leave

How to calculate redundancy pay

All employees are entitled to a statutory redundancy payment, calculated as follows:

• If employee are aged 21 or under they get half a week’s gross pay for every complete year of employment with the same employer.
• If employees are aged 22‑40 they get one week’s gross pay for every complete year of employment with the same employer.
• If employees are aged 41 or over they get one and a half weeks gross pay for every complete year of employment with the same employer.

This is capped at 20 years’ service.

There is a maximum weekly wage limit of £700 per week (April 24 – April 25).

Other things to consider

• When an employee is on maternity leave, they are entitled to have their week’s pay calculated as their normal week’s pay (or average week’s pay) before taking maternity leave.
• If an employee returns to work part-time after maternity leave, their redundancy pay is calculated on their pay at the time of redundancy. 
• An employee’s contract might give them better rights than the statutory redundancy pay. 

Need some help with your organisation?

For reassurance when you’re dealing with a similar situation you can contact us for expert advice on the best way to proceed.

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