Redundancy During Pregnancy and Maternity Leave: Your Rights, Protections and Next Steps (2026 Employee Guide)

Being told you’re at risk of redundancy while pregnant or on maternity leave lands differently to any other piece of redundancy news.

It arrives at a moment when you should be focused on your baby, not your job security, and it can be hard to know whether what’s happening to you is lawful or simply how these things are done.

I’ve advised hundreds of employees through this situation. In this guide, I’ll walk you through your legal protections during pregnancy and maternity leave, the warning signs your redundancy might not be genuine, and what to do next if something doesn’t feel right.

Can you be made redundant on maternity leave?

Yes, you can be made redundant on maternity leave, but only where two conditions are met:

• The redundancy is genuine. Your role must have genuinely disappeared, not been used as a convenient reason to remove you.
• Your employer follows a fair process. This means proper pooling, objective scoring, and a fair redundancy consultation process at every stage.

Maternity, pregnancy, or the simple fact that you’ve taken parental leave can never be a reason for your selection. If it is, this may amount to automatic unfair dismissal under the Employment Rights Act 1996 and pregnancy or maternity discrimination under the Equality Act 2010.

What counts as a genuine redundancy?

A redundancy is genuine when it falls into one of three categories below:

• The business or workplace is closing. This can be the whole organisation or just the site where you work, whether permanently or temporarily.
• The type of work you do is no longer required. Your specific role has disappeared, regardless of your individual performance.
• Fewer employees are needed to do your type of work. The business still needs the role, but not as many people doing it.

If your redundancy doesn’t clearly fit one of these three, it’s worth questioning whether it’s genuine, whatever your employer calls it.

Red flags that suggest your redundancy might not be genuine:

• Your maternity cover is being kept on
• New hires doing similar work have recently appeared
• Comments have been made about your pregnancy or commitment at work
• You’re being treated differently to colleagues in the same redundancy pool
• The timing follows shortly after you announced your pregnancy or leave

What are your material leave rights and protection?

UK law gives pregnant employees and those on maternity leave some of the strongest protections available to any worker. 

Here’s what actually applies.

The Equality Act 2010

Pregnancy and maternity are protected characteristics in their own right. Any unfavourable treatment connected to them can amount to discrimination, and you don’t need any minimum length of service to bring a claim.

Automatic unfair dismissal

Under section 99 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, a dismissal connected to pregnancy or maternity leave is automatically unfair. Again, there’s no two-year qualifying period. This protection applies from day one.

Priority for suitable alternative roles

Under Regulation 10 of the Maternity and Parental Leave etc Regulations 1999, if a suitable alternative vacancy exists, you must be offered it ahead of other employees at risk of redundancy. 

Extended protection under the 2023 Act

The Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023 widened this priority right significantly. It now covers three separate periods as set out below:

What should a fair redundancy process include?

Being made redundant while pregnant or on maternity leave doesn’t automatically make the process unfair. What matters is whether your employer followed the correct steps.

A fair redundancy process typically includes:

1. Genuine pooling. You should be considered alongside the right group of employees doing the same or similar work, not singled out on your own.
2. Objective, non-discriminatory scoring. Selection criteria must be applied fairly and consistently. If attendance is used as a criterion, any absence for pregnancy-related sickness or time on maternity leave must be disregarded entirely. Scoring you down for either is unlawful.
3. Consultation that includes you. Being on maternity leave doesn’t remove your right to be consulted. Your employer must keep you properly informed and give you a genuine opportunity to respond, in the same way they would for any employee at risk. 
4. Consideration of suitable alternative roles. Your employer must actively check for suitable vacancies, not wait for you to find one yourself.
5. An opportunity to appeal. Good practice, and often a requirement of your employer’s own redundancy procedure, is to give you a chance to challenge the decision before it’s finalised.

What is a suitable alternative vacancy, and when must it be offered to me?

A suitable alternative vacancy is a role comparable to your current job in status and responsibility. The terms and conditions shouldn’t be substantially less favourable than what you have now. It doesn’t need to be identical, but a significant drop in salary, seniority, or hours would generally take it outside “suitable.”

When the priority right applies

The priority right starts once you’ve been placed at risk of redundancy, not before. From that point, if a suitable vacancy exists anywhere in the business, your employer must offer it to you first.

This applies even ahead of another employee at risk who might otherwise be the stronger candidate. It’s a genuine priority, not just a right to apply and be considered alongside everyone else.

If you turn the role down

The decision to accept is yours. But if you refuse a genuinely suitable offer without good reason, you mAY lose your entitlement to statutory redundancy pay. 

You may still be able to argue your dismissal was unfair on other grounds, but the automatic protection under the priority right no longer applies once a suitable offer has been unreasonably refused.

What happens to my Statutory Maternity Pay if I’m made redundant?

Being made redundant doesn’t stop your Statutory Maternity Pay if you already qualify for it. Your entitlement is based on your employment and earnings history in the qualifying period before your leave began, and redundancy after that point doesn’t undo it.

Who pays it

• Your employer remains responsible for paying the remaining balance of your SMP, even after your employment ends
• If your employer becomes insolvent and can’t pay, HMRC steps in and pays any outstanding SMP directly to you instead

How you qualify

• At least 26 weeks of continuous employment by the “qualifying week,” 15 weeks before your baby is due
• Average weekly earnings above the lower earnings limit

If you meet these conditions before being made redundant, your SMP continues regardless of what happens to your job afterwards.

Signs your redundancy might not be genuine

If something about your redundancy doesn’t add up, the strongest thing you can do is start building a record while it’s happening, not after.

• Note the dates. Write down when key events happened: when you announced your pregnancy or leave, when the redundancy was first mentioned, and how close together they fell.
• Keep every piece of correspondence. Save emails, meeting invites, and any messages referencing your role, your leave, or the restructure. Don’t rely on memory.
• Request the scoring matrix in writing. If selection criteria have been used, ask your employer to confirm how you were scored and against whom. You can request this as part of a fair redundancy process.
• Ask questions at every stage. Raise concerns in writing as they arise, rather than waiting until the outcome is confirmed.

Been offered a settlement agreement instead? Here’s what to check

Employers offer settlement agreements for many reasons. One common driver is avoiding the cost, time, and risk of a redundancy process that could give rise to a discrimination or unfair dismissal claim.

This isn’t unusual and is not a bad outcome. It just means the terms need proper attention.

Why the offer might be more generous than you expect

The financial exposure of getting a maternity redundancy wrong is significant for an employer. Pregnancy and maternity discrimination claims carry no compensation cap, and tribunals can award separately for injury to feelings on top of lost earnings. Affected employees can receive up to £62,900 or more in the most serious cases.

Automatic unfair dismissal claims are capped at £123,543 (from April 2026). Where these overlap with a discrimination claim, the uncapped discrimination award applies instead.

A settlement agreement that reflects real claim strength should go beyond your statutory entitlements. Use our settlement agreement calculator to get a starting estimate of what your package could be worth.

What the package should include

Beyond your statutory entitlements, a fair offer should reflect the strength of your position. The main elements to check are:

• Notice pay whether worked or paid as a payment in lieu of notice
• Accrued holiday pay up to your leaving date
• Statutory redundancy pay calculated using your age, length of service, and weekly pay
• Enhanced ex gratia payment, reflecting the strength of any discrimination or automatic unfair dismissal claim
• An agreed reference, with the exact wording cemented into the agreement rather than left to your employer’s discretion

Reference and confidentiality terms

Beyond the reference itself, check the confidentiality clause carefully. It should work both ways: protecting you from your employer discussing the circumstances of your departure, not just the other way round. 

Look out for any restrictive covenants too, particularly if you’re likely to return to the same industry or sector.

Before you agree on a figure, it’s also worth understanding whether your settlement agreement is taxable, since the structure of the payment affects what you actually take home.

Employment redundancy – FAQs

Get expert advice on your settlement agreement

Whether you’re weighing up a redundancy decision or have already been offered a settlement agreement, GTE Settlement Agreements are ready to help. Settlement agreements are all we do and most are completed within the hour.

• We only act for employees, not employers
• Your employer pays our fees, so you pay nothing
• Most settlement agreements are completed within the hour
• Available today, wherever you are in England and Wales

Call us now on 020 7247 7190 or make a free enquiry online.