Consultations have been launched on fundamental Make Work Pay measures including protections for pregnant women and new mums at work and bereavement leave.
The Government is seeking opinion on how to shape reforms on proposals put forward to further develop employment rights.
From April 6, 2024, the redundancy protected period for pregnant employees or those taking maternity leave was extended, providing protections from dismissals for up to 18 months for new and expectant employees. These apply to any employee who notified their employer that they were pregnant leading up to this date or where the leave started on or after April 6.
The redundancy protected period during pregnancy and maternity starts when an employee tells their employer that they are pregnant and ends 18 months from the exact date the baby is born.
Employees on maternity leave must be given the same opportunity of alternative work that employees at work would be given before instigating redundancies. Failure to do this would be classed as unfair dismissal.
Views are being sought on the current framework and when and why pregnant women and new mothers are treated unfairly or dismissed.
The measures also apply to neonatal care leave, adoption and shared leave.
Currently, only employees who lose a child have a statutory entitlement to time off from work. Parental bereavement leave and pay is the relevant entitlement available to bereaved employees if they or their partner lose a child up to the age of 18 or have a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy, provided they meet eligibility criteria. This provides up to two weeks of paid leave that can be taken in one-week blocks, either consecutively or separately, within 56 weeks of the child’s death.
When a child is stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy, employed parents may also be entitled to statutory maternity, paternity and shared parental leave and pay, provided they meet certain criteria.
The new measures are also seeking to introduce a right to unpaid bereavement leave for employees who experience the loss of a loved one, including pregnancy loss before 24 weeks. Employees will be entitled to a minimum amount of leave of one week and a window of at least 56 days to take the leave. Protections against unfair treatment due to taking leave, protection of contractual rights while on leave, and protection against unfair dismissal will be extended to these cases.
Reponses can be provided online to the Department for Business and Trade and the consultations will close on January 15, 2026.