Rights of women facing job loss while pregnant

The conciliation service Acas and the Equality and Human Rights Commission have published a new guide to help employers and employees understand the rights of women who are pregnant or on maternity leave when facing redundancy.

The guide outlines what the law says and advice on how to handle the situation correctly. The Acas helpline receives more than 15,000 calls a year from people seeking advice on pregnancy or maternity and redundancy. Meanwhile, unfair dismissal or detriment related to being pregnant or on maternity leave accounted for 1,900 cases lodged at the employment tribunal in 2011-12, according to figures published by the Ministry of Justice.

Issues covered in the guide are: the law around pregnancy and maternity protection; a checklist for managing redundancy fairly; guidelines for checking a redundancy is genuine; and how to consult employees on maternity leave.

The guide can be downloaded from: www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3832