Government considering extending redundancy protections for women and new parents

The Government has issued a consultation seeking views on proposals to extend redundancy protection for women and new parents.

What is included in the government’s consultation on redundancy protection?

It is seeking views on whether to extend an employer’s obligation to offer any suitable available vacancy before making a woman on maternity leave redundant, so that it also applies from the point when a woman informs her employer in writing that she is pregnant until six months after she returns from maternity leave.

It is also considering whether parents returning to work from adoption leave, shared parental leave and possibly longer periods of parental leave should be protected for six months after they return. Currently they are only protected whilst on leave.

Are there any potential issues within the consultation on redundancy protection?

It recognises that there could be issues in determining when a woman has returned to work where, for example, a period of maternity leave is immediately followed by a period of annual leave, special leave or a career break.  There is also the question of how this protection would work in the case of shared parental leave, where parents can take leave in multiple blocks with periods of work in between.  It intends to form a technical task group to work through these issues.   

The consultation on extending redundancy protection for women and new parents runs until 5 April 2019.