What is changing?

Under the Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023, from the 6th of April 2024 , the protection is now being extended. The changes are as follows:

There is also protection where an employee suffers a miscarriage. If the miscarriage occurs before 24 weeks of pregnancy, they will have protection during the pregnancy and for 2 weeks after the miscarriage. If the miscarriage occurs after 24 weeks of pregnancy, this is classed as a still birth and the employee will be entitled to the protections as any other employee on maternity leave as explained above.

What do employers need to do?

• Update any redundancy policies – If you have any redundancy policies, you need to review these and update them in line with the enhanced protections as set out above.
• Keep track of employees who are pregnant or on leave – Ensure you keep a record of employees who fall into any of the categories above.  If a redundancy scenario does arise, you therefore have the necessary records to review in order to consider the enhanced protections. The 18 month protection is a long one so it would be wise to keep a record of employees in the categories and when their protections start and end.
• Staff awareness – Ensure managers are aware of the new protections so if a redundancy situation does arise, the enhanced protections can be factored in at a formative stage.

Please contact a member of our employment team if you would like us to review your policies to ensure you are reflecting the extensions in the protections.