Redundancy During Maternity Leave 2026: Your Priority Right to Alternative Roles

Why this protection exists

Redundancy processes can be misused (deliberately or through unconscious bias) to remove employees who are pregnant or on maternity leave, on the theory that they're "less available" or costlier to retain. UK law responds with a specific, strong protection: employees within the protected period must be given priority for any suitable alternative role during a redundancy exercise, rather than simply being included in the general pool and left to compete for vacancies alongside everyone else.

The extended protected period (from April 2024)

Before April 2024, the priority right broadly applied from the start of maternity leave until the end of maternity leave. Reforms that took effect in April 2024 substantially extended this window:

Equivalent protection for adoption and Shared Parental Leave

The same extended protected-period model applies to:

• Adoption leave, with an equivalent 18-month extended period from placement.
• Shared Parental Leave, for employees who take at least 6 consecutive weeks of Shared Parental Leave, with a comparable extended protection period.

What "suitable alternative vacancy" priority actually means

If a genuine redundancy situation arises during the protected period, and there is a suitable alternative role available (even if other employees are also at risk of redundancy and might want it), the protected employee must be offered that vacancy first, without having to go through a competitive interview or selection process against other candidates for it. Only if there's no suitable alternative vacancy at all does the protected employee's role become an actual redundancy, subject to statutory redundancy pay if the qualifying service is met.

Being made redundant is still possible

Being within the protected period does not make an employee immune from redundancy altogether. If the employee's specific role is genuinely redundant, and there's truly no suitable alternative vacancy, redundancy can still lawfully proceed — provided:

• The selection process was fair and not influenced by the pregnancy, maternity leave, or protected status.
• The priority right to any suitable alternative vacancy was properly honoured before the redundancy was confirmed.

Automatically unfair dismissal

If either of these conditions is breached — the pregnancy/maternity leave influenced the selection, or the priority vacancy right wasn't followed — the dismissal is automatically unfair, and importantly, there is no 2-year continuous service requirement to bring this type of claim, unlike ordinary unfair dismissal.

Practical steps if you're pregnant or on maternity leave facing redundancy

• Confirm in writing (email is fine) that you believe you fall within the protected period, referencing the relevant dates.
• Ask specifically whether any suitable alternative vacancies exist, and request they be offered to you under the priority right before any final redundancy decision.
• Keep records of all correspondence and vacancy lists shared (or not shared) with you during the process.
• If you believe the priority right wasn't followed, or pregnancy/maternity leave influenced your selection, seek advice promptly — tribunal time limits are generally 3 months less one day from the dismissal date.

Use the redundancy pay calculator to check your statutory entitlement if redundancy does proceed after the priority process has been properly followed.