The Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Bill is well on its way through the House of Lords. Currently at committee stage – at which point every clause of the bill has to be agreed and votes on amendments can take place – the bill will give further protections for pregnant women and new parents.
With some 54,000 women a year feeling they have to leave their jobs due to pregnancy or maternity discrimination, further protections cannot come soon enough.
Currently, there is some protection for employees on maternity, shared parental or adoption leave if a redundancy situation arises. Where it is not practicable by reason of redundancy for an employer to continue to employ an employee on maternity leave, she is entitled to be offered a suitable alternative role, where one exists. This gives the employee priority, as they are entitled to be given first refusal of any suitable alternative vacancy.
However, if the bill is passed in its current form, it would give the Secretary of State the power to make provisions to extend this protection from redundancy to during or after pregnancy, or after periods of maternity, adoption or shared parental leave. It is expected that this protection would cover from when a woman tells her employer she is pregnant until 18 months after the birth.
MPs have been keen to record that this bill seeks to encourage people to maintain their life in work, in light of the troubles facing the economy. Dan Jarvis confirmed that the bill “is very much family friendly, but is also friendly to businesses and employers.”
There are other things employers can do now to give even further reassurance to pregnant female staff. Every business should have a maternity policy that expressly details their rights to time off for antenatal appointments, maternity leave and statutory maternity pay, as well as additional health and safety measures. Organisations are also increasingly introducing enhanced maternity pay benefits, which may be full or part payment of salary for a period of maternity leave, or providing a return-to-work bonus as a way to encourage staff to return to work following their leave.
While an employee is pregnant, employers should continue to manage and provide opportunities in the same way; they should not feel that one-to-ones and setting objectives are irrelevant, simply because they will be having some time out of the business. They should provide confidence to those going on family leave that any replacement for their current role is recruited on a temporary basis only, while also staying connected through periods of family leave and ensuring the employee is still included and updated. For example, employers could put forward business update emails and invite them to social events.
These things can help employees to stay confident of their position both before and after leave.
Alexandra Farmer is head of team and a solicitor at WorkNest