Draft regulations mark a significant change and extend certain redundancy protections to a wider category of employee.
The requirement to prioritise offers of suitable alternative vacancies (where available) to certain employees in a redundancy situation will be extended to cover:
- Pregnant employees – from the point at which they inform the employer of their pregnancy, until 18 months after the birth of a child. This extends the protection period to a total of c2 years.
In the instance of miscarriage, the protection is enacted from the point at which the employer is informed of the pregnancy until two weeks after the loss of the child (if the loss is before 24 weeks. Post-24 weeks stillbirths are covered by maternity rights).
The new protection applies to employees who notify their employer of their pregnancy on or after 6 April 2024 and for maternity leave ending on or after this date.
- Adoption leave – from the first day of adoption leave to 18 months after the date of the placement of the child.
The new protections apply if the adoption leave ends on or after 6 April 2024.
- Shared parental leave – in the instance that the shared leave period is more than six continuous weeks or more, the employee is eligible for prioritisation for 18 months from the child’s date of birth.
The new protection applies to SPL for leave that begins on or after 6 April 2024.
Employers need to be mindful of these changes when planning any restructuring exercises involving potential redundancies. For more help and advice, please contact the HR Services Team at peoplesolutions@menzies.co.uk