Pregnancy and dismissal protection

Updated September 2026

A dismissal because you are pregnant, on maternity leave, or have a related pregnancy or maternity reason is in a different legal box from ordinary unfair dismissal. You do not need two years' service. You do still need to file on time. That is the mix-up that costs people these claims.

Two claims, not one

Pregnancy and maternity discrimination sits in the Equality Act. Automatic unfair dismissal for pregnancy or maternity sits in the Employment Rights Act. You can bring both. Discrimination does not need a qualifying period either, and it covers detriment short of dismissal: the cancelled hours, the missing bonus, the “we’ve restructured your role.”

Leave and pay are a third layer. Maternity leave is a day-one right; statutory pay still has its own tests. Getting those wrong is not the same as a lawful dismissal.

No qualifying period

Ordinary unfair dismissal still needs two years until 1 January 2027, then a planned six months. Automatically unfair pregnancy and maternity dismissals skip that queue. If you have been there four months and they sack you a week after you told them, do not wait to “qualify.” Read the unfair dismissal time limit for the filing clock, and ask for written reasons — pregnancy-related dismissals have a stronger right to that statement.

Redundancy while pregnant or on leave

If a genuine redundancy happens while you are on maternity leave, you should be offered a suitable alternative vacancy where one exists, ahead of other employees. That is not a courtesy. A failure here is a classic automatic unfair dismissal. The cheque does not make it fair. See redundancy pay and consultation deadlines for the payment clock, which is a different clock again.

The protected period is being stretched

The Employment Rights Act 2025 is due to extend extra redundancy protection after return from maternity (and some other family leave) for a period measured in months, not days. Commencement has been staggered with the rest of the Act; treat any article that gives a single nationwide start date as something to check on gov.uk before you rely on it. The existing pregnancy and maternity discrimination protections did not wait for that extension. They already apply.

Deadlines

Discrimination: three months less a day, or six if the act is on or after 1 October 2026, timed from the act or the end of a continuing course of conduct. Details on the discrimination time limit page.

Automatic unfair dismissal: the same 3-or-6-month split from the EDT. Put the date in the calculator and start Acas. An internal grievance about “how they handled the pregnancy” does not pause either clock.

This is general information, not legal advice. If you are still employed and being frozen out, write the dates down this week.