Government papers: Consultation outcome - pregnancy and maternity discrimination

The government has published its response to the consultation into extending redundancy protection for women and new parents.

It has committed to take action to:

• ensure the redundancy protection period applies from the point the employee informs the employer that she is pregnant, whether orally or in writing;
• extend the redundancy protection period for six months once a new parent has returned to work whether from maternity or adoption leave;
• extend redundancy protection into a period of return to work for those taking shared parental leave, taking account of key principles and issues (see full response);
• establish a taskforce of employer and family representative groups to make recommendations on what improvements can be made to the information available to employers and families on pregnancy and maternity discrimination. It will also develop an action plan on what steps can be taken to make it easier for pregnant women and new mothers to stay in work.