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Pregnancy and Family Leave Act 2023

The legislation surrounding parents’ protection from redundancy changed on 6th April 2024. We look at what you need to know. 

What has changed?

If an employee takes Maternity Leave, Adoption Leave or Shared Paternity Leave they have a protected right from redundancy, plus the right to be offered first refusal of any suitable alternative vacancies a company may have during a redundancy consultation process. 

Before 6th April 2024, employees were protected from the start of their leave (or placement of child) until the end of their leave period. However, this new legislation extends the employees’ protected period should they take the above leave to up to 18 months after the child has been born (or the adoption placement has begun). 

This would mean employees would still have a period of protection when they return to work after their period of ‘family-friendly’ leave.

What do I need to do?

It is vital companies have accurate records of employees’ leave that can be reviewed when required. 

If your company is considering redundancies and instigating a redundancy consultation, you should ensure that the criteria for a fair redundancy process are being met. The first step includes providing a clear and fair reason for redundancy, such as the company is having financial difficulties, there has been a serious downturn in work or there is a reduced need for employees doing work of a particular kind. 

The second part is understanding which roles are at risk of being made redundant whilst also identifying whether any other employee completes similar work or uses similar skills, as there is potential that these employees would need to be included in the redundancy process as well.

Looking at the above, when you have established which roles are at risk and how many roles need to be reduced, you must then follow a redundancy consultation process. Each employee must be reviewed to consider whether the current protection period would still apply and whether additional measures need to be taken.

If these employees are not given first refusal of any potential alternative roles, your company may be at risk of potential claims of unfair dismissal and discrimination before an employment tribunal.

As always, should you need review a redundancy process you are advised to contact your HR Advisor from Stallard Kane to review the details and work closely with them to ensure the correct procedure is followed throughout.

For additional information or support, please do not hesitate to contact us at HR@skaltd.co.uk or call 01427 420 404 and #oneoftheteam will be happy to help.

Disclaimer

The information and any commentary contained within these updates are for general information purposes only and do not constitute legal or any other type of professional advice. Stallard Kane does not accept and, to the extent permitted by law, exclude liability to any person for any loss which may arise from relying upon or otherwise using the information contained in these blogs. If you have a particular query or issue, you are strongly advised to obtain specific, personal advice about your issue and not to rely solely on the information or comments in these updates.
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