Law Queries
Redundancy and maternity
Q. Am I right in thinking it’s unlawful to make someone redundant while they are on maternity leave?
A. It is automatically unfair to select someone for redundancy because they are on, or have asked to take, maternity leave.
But this does not mean that someone cannot be made redundant while they’re on maternity leave, so long as they have been fairly selected and the employer has followed a fair procedure.
Regulation 10 of the Maternity and Parental Leave etc. Regulations 1999 does, however, give men and women who are on maternity, adoption or shared parental leave priority for any suitable alternative vacancies.
This means that if a suitable vacancy exists, it should be given to someone on such leave before it’s offered to anyone else.