Risk of redundancy but pregnant

[Elouise91]

Hi,

I'm looking for advice - if anyone has been in a similar situation...

Yesterday I was told that my job role is being removed, along with my colleagues and new post is being created that we would both need to apply for.

I have done some research, and aware that I have certain protected rights due to being pregnant. I also found on Citizens advice due to being pregnant I can’t be asked to compete against another employee in my team which is exactly what I have been asked to do. The team who made the decision on restructure were well aware that I was pregnant when they made this decision.

I have emailed HR with my concerns and that they have a duty of care as my employer (I will be 7 months pregnant when having to go through the selection process). Also I'm concerned about fairness - there are two candidates going for the same role, and one candidate is unable to perform the work for 9 to 12 months but still requires payment, it creates a challenging scenario. Given that the motivation behind these redundancies is to reduce costs, I find it difficult to see how I can have a fair chance in this situation.

Just wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation/ any legal professionals who would have any advice.

Thanks,
Emma

Redundancy protection for pregnant employees is a fairly recent extension, before April 2024 it only included those on maternity leave. I suspect the company hasn't updated their policy or just not built this extended protection into their practices. Well done on picking this up, I would speak to ACAS they're really helpful, free phone line.

So you can't make someone redundant if they're pregnant? Is that the law now? In a situation where a role is being made redundant, and a team of 2 are going down to 1, that seems really unfair on the non-pregnant person, if that's true. They may be, for many reasons, the better person for the role, but if a company can't make the pregnant woman redundant they'd have to lose the other (best fit) person.

I can imagine a scenario that says a company should pay the redundancy plus SMP for said pregnant woman, but why should being pregnant in itself protect you?

The employer should be looking for suitable alternative employment and offering it ahead of other staff at risk of redundancy. It seems unfair on the non-pregnant person but the law has been for staff for maternity leave already and it's extended to pregnancy to try and level out issues of discrimination and find overall fairness for pregnant women who undoubtedly are likely to get the worst outcome when it comes to redundancy. The employer should really have known about this earlier on in the process and treated it with some sensitivity.

Hi all, hoping someone can give some advice/been in a similar position!

I only found out on Monday I am pregnant with my second child (I think only 5 weeks) and today got told I am at risk of redundancy and a consultation period has begun. Only me and another lady at risk and just one job role for us both to interview!

Should I tell work I am pregnant now during consultation (one month) and will this give me better protection? Or would it not be worth mentioning.

Thank you in advance!