Redundancy
Redundancy during pregnancy and maternity leave
Pregnancy and maternity leave do not stop a genuine redundancy, but they change who gets the next suitable job, which pay the redundancy is based on, and what happens to maternity pay.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources
An employee can be made redundant while pregnant or on maternity leave only if the redundancy is genuine and the choice has nothing to do with the pregnancy; selecting someone because of it is automatically unfair. In Great Britain she also has a right to be offered any suitable available vacancy before other employees, even better-qualified ones, under regulation 10 of the Maternity and Parental Leave etc. Regulations 1999. Since 6 April 2024 that protected period runs from the day the employer is told of the pregnancy until 18 months after the birth, covering the return to work as well as the leave; it ends early if employment ends. The offer must be of work that is suitable and on terms not substantially less favourable. If there is no vacancy, statutory redundancy pay is based on her normal weekly pay, capped at £751, never on Statutory Maternity Pay. SMP of up to 39 weeks, £194.32 a week after the first 6, stays payable after the job ends if she qualified, and cannot be clawed back.
Made redundant on maternity leave: the two payments
Redundancy pay on your normal pay
£3,840
| If it were wrongly based on SMP | £1,166 |
| Full 39 weeks of SMP, still owed | £9,868.56 |
SMP continues after the job ends if you qualified. Weeks after April 2027 are priced at today’s rate until the new rate is set.
The protected period, from first notice to 18 months
The Maternity Leave, Adoption Leave and Shared Parental Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024 rewrote regulation 10 of the 1999 Regulations from 6 April 2024. The right to priority for a suitable vacancy now applies during three back-to-back periods:
- The protected period of pregnancy, from the day the employer is informed of the pregnancy until maternity leave starts;
- Statutory maternity leave, up to 52 weeks;
- The additional protected period, from the day after maternity leave ends until 18 months after the birth, as long as employment continues.
For a baby born on 10 March 2026 whose mother told her employer the date of birth, the protection lasts until 9 September 2027. Someone who returns to work after twelve months is therefore protected for about six months more, which is the example GOV.UK gives (Employee rights when on leave). If the employer was never told the actual date of birth, the 18 months run from the first day of the expected week of childbirth.
The rules apply where the employer was informed of the pregnancy, or the maternity leave ended, on or after 6 April 2024. Acas notes that the protection ends when employment ends, so an employee made redundant at month fifteen does not keep the last three months (Acas, Redundancy protection).
What the priority means in practice
Where there is a suitable available vacancy with the employer, a successor or an associated employer, the employee must be offered it before her current employment ends, to start as soon as the old contract ends. The new job must involve work that is suitable and appropriate for her, and its place, capacity and other terms must not be substantially less favourable than the old ones (regulation 10(2) and (3)). She does not have to compete for it, even against a colleague who would score higher.
The priority covers vacancies, not the jobs being cut. Acas’s example is an employer reducing twenty administration roles to ten: a pregnant employee goes through the same selection as everyone else for the ten remaining posts, because those are not vacancies. If the restructure creates new roles, for instance by merging two, those can be suitable vacancies she must be offered first. When several protected employees want the same post, the employer chooses on skills, knowledge and experience and should explain its criteria in writing.
Acas warns that failing to offer a suitable vacancy can make the dismissal automatically unfair, and for a pregnant employee or one on maternity leave it could also be discrimination.
Redundancy pay on normal pay
A week’s pay for redundancy is your normal contractual gross pay. Acas states that redundancy pay during family-related leave is not based on what you were paid during the leave. The years on maternity leave count in full towards your service.
| Basis | Weekly figure | Payment (8.0 weeks) |
|---|---|---|
| Normal pay, capped (correct) | £720 | £5,760 |
| Flat SMP rate (wrong) | £194.32 | £1,555 |
SMP after the job ends
Redundancy ends maternity leave, because leave needs a contract. It does not end Statutory Maternity Pay. HMRC’s guidance says an employee who leaves may still qualify for SMP whatever the reason, and the employer cannot ask for it back (SMP: employee circumstances that affect payment). If she leaves before the 11th week before the expected week of childbirth, the pay period starts on that week’s Sunday or the day after the birth, whichever is earlier; if she leaves after that, it starts the day after her last day.
For the office manager, whose SMP began on 1 March 2026, the 39 weeks total £10,300.56: 6 weeks at 90 % of earnings, then the lower of £194.32 and 90 %. Whatever remains when her job ends is still paid, on top of the redundancy payment and notice pay. The maternity pay calculator lays out each week.
Other leave with the same protection
The same 2024 rules extend to adoption leave, to shared parental leave of at least 6 continuous weeks, and Acas adds neonatal care leave and bereaved partner’s paternity leave. Shorter blocks of shared parental leave are protected only while the leave lasts. Ordinary paternity leave is not covered. The general rules on offers and trial periods are in suitable alternative employment.