Employers face tougher protections against pregnancy dismissals

The government plans to strengthen dismissal protections for pregnant employees and new mothers, with regulations intended to come into force in October 2027 following consultation with businesses, workers and representative organisations.

The government intends to replace the conventional ‘band of reasonable responses’ test for unfair dismissal with a proportionality test in cases involving protected pregnant employees and new parents. The employer would have to demonstrate that dismissal was a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate business aim and that reasonably available, less severe alternatives had been considered. The new test is planned for October 2027, not presently in force.

Existing law already gives certain pregnant employees and new parents priority for suitable alternative vacancies in redundancy situations. The proposed proportionality requirement reaches further, including relevant conduct and capability dismissals during the protected period. The government’s response states that protection would begin when an employee notifies the employer of pregnancy, apply from the first day of employment, and extend through maternity leave and for six months afterwards; other specified family leave categories would also be included.

The response follows engagement with employers, trade unions and family organisations. It proposes a legal threshold higher than the ordinary unfair dismissal test, although dismissal would remain possible where justified. The government cites legitimate safety risks, serious harm to the organisation and impacts on colleagues’ wellbeing among circumstances that might require assessment. Final regulations and guidance are needed to explain how the test will operate across different workplaces.

Businesses should not treat the October 2026 publication as an immediate change to the law. The intended implementation is a year away, and the precise obligations must be checked against the final statutory instruments and official guidance. Existing duties relating to discrimination, redundancy consultation and family leave remain applicable in the meantime.

For human resources teams, the practical question will be how managers document the reasons for dismissal and whether those reasons withstand scrutiny when an employee has recently disclosed a pregnancy, taken maternity leave or returned to work. A defensible process needs consistent records of the business rationale, consideration of alternatives and evidence that comparable employees were treated fairly.

That goes beyond changing template letters. Decisions taken by line managers can create legal exposure even where a central HR team has produced compliant policies. Employers operating across several sites will need to establish common standards for approving dismissals, escalating concerns and recording the factors considered before a decision is confirmed.

The policy also intersects with workforce planning. Employers adjusting staffing levels or reorganising teams over the coming year must distinguish the protection currently available from measures planned for 2027. Employee communications that suggest the proposed new rules are already legally binding would create confusion, just as failing to plan for their introduction could cause avoidable problems later.

Ministers have committed to working with businesses and employee representatives on implementation and associated communications. Employers will therefore have an opportunity to examine how the final safeguards interact with legitimate restructuring needs, formal capability procedures and other employment rights.

The response is another element of the government’s wider employment reform programme, which is being implemented on a staged timetable. For businesses, the operational test will be whether the regulations offer clear decision criteria without leaving managers to interpret broad principles during sensitive personnel cases.

Employers will also need to account for the employee’s protected status when reviewing disciplinary and attendance procedures. A decision that appears neutral in a policy manual can have a different effect where absence or altered working arrangements relate to pregnancy or maternity. That is why training for managers should address practical scenarios, not simply repeat statutory wording. An effective review will consider who can authorise an exception, how occupational health information is used, when legal advice should be sought, and whether the employee has a fair opportunity to respond to concerns before the employer reaches its decision.

Until October 2027, employers should apply existing law while monitoring the regulations and reviewing the quality of their decision records. Changes to dismissal policy should ultimately be based on the enacted rules rather than assumptions about the consultation outcome.