Maria Miller, Conservative MP for Basingstoke, has reintroduced a Private Members Bill, the Pregnancy and Maternity (Redundancy Protection) Bill 2019-21 seeking to "prohibit redundancy during pregnancy and maternity leave and for six months after the end of the pregnancy or leave, except in specified circumstances; and for connected purposes."
Enhanced Redundancy Protection
As we outlined in a previous article back in January 2019, the Government launched a consultation into whether greater redundancy protection should be afforded to pregnant women and new mothers. That consultation concluded on the 5th April 2019, and following a review of the 643 responses received, the Government undertook to: "to extend the redundancy protection period for 6 months once a new mother has returned to work; to afford the same protection to those taking adoption leave; [and] to extend redundancy protection for those returning from shared parental leave. We will consult further on the design of this protection over coming months." This commitment was then included in the Employment Bill 2019-20 in the Queens Speech back in December 2019. That Bill is currently awaiting a date for its second reading.
Maria Miller introduced a private members Bill under the 10 minute rule for the first time on the 19th May 2019, with campaigners at the time accusing the Government of both dragging its feet and of not going far enough with its proposals. However, that Bill ran out of time. Accordingly, with no progress having been made over the last year in terms of enhanced redundancy protection, Maria Miller has reintroduced the Bill, a Bill which goes much further than the proposals outlined in the Employment Bill 2019-20, in that it seeks to "prohibit redundancy during pregnancy and maternity leave and for six months after the end of the pregnancy or leave, except in specified circumstances," such as the closure of the business. Miller argues that the coronavirus lockdown and the fallout from that, have really brought out more than ever, the need for much tougher regulations than are presently being proposed by the Government. Writing in the Daily Telegraph, she says: "Since the coronavirus crisis began, a quarter of pregnant women or new mothers have experienced unfair treatment at work, including being singled out for redundancy or furlough, according to a study of 3,400 women by the TUC.....The pandemic has shown too many employers fail to provide the basic protection pregnant women and new mums are entitled to by law. Now more than ever we need protections for pregnant women and new mums with real teeth that will also change employers' ingrained attitudes. That is why I am reintroducing my Bill in the House of Commons on July 8, calling again for German style protection for pregnant women and new mums, giving them automatic protection from redundancy during pregnancy and for six months after."
Reaction
Commenting upon the proposed measures for enhanced redundancy protection, director of Maternity Action, Rosalind Bragg, stated that: "In the wake of the COVID19 pandemic and lockdown, ......even before the furlough scheme has come to an end, employers are shedding staff, and it is clear from hundreds of calls to our advice lines that new and expectant mothers are being unfairly selected for redundancy. Many more are deeply worried that they are going to be the first to be chosen when their workplace contracts....Fortunately,.....the Government has an opportunity to remedy this lack of action, when Maria Miller introduces her Pregnancy & Maternity (Redundancy Protection) Bill. This would replace the existing, poorly understood and ineffective legal protection against redundancy for pregnant women and new mothers with a new framework, similar to that in Germany, under which such women can be made redundant only in very limited (and specified) circumstances, such as closure of the business."
Joeli Brearley, the founder of the campaign group, Pregnant Then Screwed, adds that enhanced redundancy protection is needed because "pregnant women and new mothers are the first to be pushed out of their jobs when a company is making cuts. If companies want to start supporting women now before action is taken by the government, they could start by offering better paternity leave for dads, and reduce the risk of singling out mums as the only ones taking leave."
