The Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023: When does it take effect?
Regulations needed to implement this Act have yet to be published and it will not take effect before April 2024.
What do we need to know?
- Currently, special legal protection is given in a redundancy situation to those on maternity, shared parental or adoption leave in that they have a right to be offered a suitable alternative vacancy if one is available before being made redundant.
- Failure to offer suitable alternative employment if it is available means that the employee may have a claim for automatic unfair dismissal.
- This new law will extend this current legal protection to pregnant employees and those who have recently returned from maternity, shared parental or adoption leave.
- It is expected that the period of protection will be six months for employees returning from maternity or adoption leave. It is not clear yet what length of protection will be granted to returners from shared parental leave.
- There are a number of points that require clarification and the implementing Regulations will be needed before employers can prepare their policies.
What do we need to do to prepare?
Training and awareness are key for those dealing with redundancies. It will be easy to inadvertently fall foul if a manager involved is unaware of the right or unaware of an available vacancy. Employment claims involving a breach of this right are likely to include automatic unfair dismissal and pregnancy/maternity discrimination elements (with potentially uncapped compensation).
- Ensure that records of job vacancies (whether manual or held on a database) are kept up to date to minimise the risk of anything being missed. In companies with a group structure, intra-group job vacancies should also be included.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
