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Pregnancy and Maternity Redundancy Bill

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Thank you for contacting me about employees being made redundant while pregnant or on maternity leave. 

I sympathise with anyone who has been made redundant or who is currently facing redundancy, particularly during this already challenging time. I appreciate that many employees are worried that, as there are new restrictions, there may be redundancies. 

There are some circumstances in which an employee who is pregnant or on maternity could legally be made redundant, and these include if the businesses closes down either temporarily or permanently, if the business moves and the employee cannot get to the new premises, or if fewer employees are required for existing work. 

However, the law is very clear, if an employee is made redundant because she is pregnant or on maternity leave, this is unfair dismissal and also pregnancy/maternity discrimination. If this is the case, an employee should check their rights online (https://www.gov.uk/redundancy-your-rights) and if necessary take their case forward to an employment tribunal. 

I am pleased that the Government has taken measures to support employees and protect jobs throughout this crisis and winter period, such as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). Over 9 million employees have been furloughed under the CJRS and I welcome that the scheme has been extended to the end of March 2021. 

The Pregnancy & Maternity (Redundancy Protection) Private Members’ Bill, which failed to complete its passage in the previous Parliament, was re-introduced on 8 July 2020 by Mrs Maria Miller MP. I understand that the Bill seeks to further protect employees from being made redundant as a result of being pregnant or on maternity leave. I understand that its Second Reading is scheduled to be on 12 March 2021 and I look forward to hearing more on this important issue. 

Thank you again for taking the time to contact me. 

Craig Whittaker MP

November 2020

Campaign Responses

  • Archived Campaign Responses
  • Abortion: Deaths following 'DIY' Home Abortions
  • Abortion and Foetal Pain
  • Agriculture Bill, Food Standards and Animal Welfare: Amendments
  • Aid: Girls in Crisis
  • Aid: Parliamentary Scrutiny
  • Aid Spending
  • Animal Experiments
  • Animals as Sentient Beings
  • Arms Sales to Israel
  • Arthritis: 'Impossible to Ignore' (Versus Arthritis)
  • Assisted Suicide
  • Asylum Seekers: Various Issues
  • Badger Cull
  • Black Lives Matter
  • Brexit: Food Poverty and UKGT
  • Brexit: Medical Supplies and Scientific Co-operation (including Galileo)
  • Brexit: UK-EU Travel
  • Build Back Better
  • Building Our Way Out (Shelter)
  • Channel Crossings: Ending People Trafficking
  • China: Persecution of Uyghur Muslims
  • Cleaner Air
  • Coronavirus: People with Disabilities
  • Coronavirus: Test and Trace
  • Cycling and Walking: Update
  • Disposable Barbecues
  • Divorce Law Reform: Updated September 2020
  • Domestic Abuse Bill
  • Domestic Abuse: Migrants
  • Domestic Homicide
  • Domestic Abuse: Universal Credit
  • Environment Bill
  • Evictions of Palestinians in Disputed Territories (EDM 529)
  • Export of Riot Control Equipment to the US
  • Fox Hunting
  • Fuel Duty and the Future of Petrol and Diesel
  • Gender Recognition Act: Update
  • Girls in Crisis (Plan International)
  • Green and Fair Recovery
  • Grenfell and Cladding
  • HS2 and the Environment
  • Heat Pumps
  • Homelessness: Crisis and Centrepoint
  • Homelessness: Social Housing (Shelter)
  • Horse Tethering
  • IVF
  • Immigration: Detention, Visas and Other Issues
  • Immigration Health Charge
  • Immigration: Points-based System
  • Israel: Peace Agreements with Bahrain and the UAE
  • Legal Aid: Asylum and Immigration Cases
  • Local Electricity Bill
  • Local Housing Allowance/Shared Accommodatio Rate
  • Microchipping Cats
  • MPs' Pay Update
  • Nazanin-Zaghari Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori: Update
  • Neonicotinoids
  • NHS Pay
  • NHS 'Privatisation'
  • Off-payroll Working (IR35)
  • Oceans: Global Action
  • Onshore Wind Energy: Update June 2020
  • Overseas Operations Bill
  • Peat Burning
  • Planning for the Future: CPRE and Other Campaigns
  • Planning for the Future: Woodlands
  • Pregnancy and Maternity Redundancy Bill
  • Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Treaty and Trident
  • Pubs and Beer Duty
  • Radiotherapy 4 Life
  • Rail: Policy and Investment
  • Rape Crisis Services and Domestic and Sexual Abuse
  • Reception Baseline Assessment (Primary Schools)
  • Rivers - Plastic Pollution
  • Sea Blasts
  • Social Care
  • Social Care, Key Workers and the National Living Wage
  • Social Housing
  • Sunday Trading
  • Sunscreen and VAT
  • Supertrawlers and Sustainable Fishing
  • Trade Bill: Anti-genocide Amendment
  • Trade Deals: Farming and Food Standards
  • Trade Deals: Food Standards
  • Trade Deals: NHS - New Clause 17 and Lords 11
  • Trade Deals: Parliamentary Scrutiny
  • Trophy Hunting Update
  • Transport Investment (#transformtransport)
  • Trespass Laws and the Right to Roam
  • Two-wheel Powered Vehicles
  • UK Internal Market Bill
  • UK Internal Market Bill: International Law
  • Visa-free Work Permits for Touring Artists
  • Whipping of Race Horses
  • Wildlife Licensing
  • Yemen: UK Involvement (Updated)
  • Youth Services

Craig Whittaker MP for Calder Valley

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