Employment Law
Can My Employer Make Me Redundant While on Maternity Leave?
Mike Murdock
4 min read
The short answer is: rarely, and only under very specific conditions. If you have been told your role is being made redundant while you are on maternity leave, take advice immediately.
Being told your job is redundant while you are on maternity leave is one of the most distressing employment situations we deal with. It is also one of the most legally complex — and one where employers frequently get it wrong.
The basic position. Employees on maternity leave are not protected from redundancy entirely. A genuine redundancy situation can arise and affect a role held by someone on maternity leave. However, the procedural requirements are significantly more stringent.
The right of first refusal. If your employer has a suitable alternative vacancy, they are legally required to offer it to you before offering it to anyone else — including employees who are not on maternity leave. This is an absolute right, not a discretionary one. Failing to offer a suitable alternative vacancy to an employee on maternity leave is automatically unfair dismissal.
What counts as a genuine redundancy. The role must be genuinely disappearing. A redundancy that is really about the fact that you are on maternity leave — or that is timed to coincide with your leave — is likely to be both automatically unfair dismissal and maternity discrimination.
What to do. If you have been told your role is redundant while on maternity leave, do not sign anything, do not accept any settlement offer without advice, and contact a solicitor immediately. There are strict time limits for bringing employment tribunal claims and they run from the date of dismissal.
We advise employees in this situation regularly. Contact us for a free initial assessment.