The Government has recently announced that pregnant women and new parents will have stronger protections against unfair dismissal. Tribunals will adopt a stricter approach for dismissal cases from 2027.
Currently, dismissing a pregnant employee or new parent is automatically unfair if the reason is connected to the pregnancy or leave. Dismissals for other reasons are currently judged under ordinary unfair dismissal using the ‘band of reasonable responses’ test. During the ‘protected period’ (which will be the period from notification of pregnancy, through maternity leave and 6 months after return from maternity leave, and for other family-friendly leave it applies during and for 6 months from the end of leave provided 6 weeks continuous leave has been taken), that test will be replaced.
Considerations for employers
From October 2027, any dismissal during the protected period, whatever the reason, must be ‘proportionate’. It will be the same as the ‘objective justification’ defence in place for discrimination claims under the Equality Act. Employers will have to show that the dismissal was a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.
The risks for employers getting this wrong are significant. The protection applies from day one of employment, so dismissals during probationary periods will be caught. It extends beyond maternity to adoption, shared parental, neonatal care, and bereaved partner’s paternity leave. Together with the wider changes under the new Employment Rights Act 2025, employers should expect more claims pleaded as both discrimination and unfair dismissal, and more disputes over exactly when they were told about a pregnancy.
The existing redundancy protections, including the 18-month protected period, remain in place. This means employers may be managing different time frames for employees.
This is not a ban on dismissal, but it is a much higher hurdle. Gross misconduct should usually still justify dismissal. Borderline conduct cases will be far harder to defend because a final warning, demotion, or move to another role may be a reasonable alternative.
Performance will be the most challenging to manage. Employers will need to show they offered support, adjusted targets, extended timescales, or considered redeployment and flexible working before dismissing the employee.
In practice, that can push decisions well beyond the protected period and may mean more cases will be resolved through settlement.
There is also a real risk that managers either rush to act before they are told about a pregnancy or quietly wait out the protected period. Both approaches carry risks of discrimination.
What should HR teams do now?
The Government intends to bring the measures into force in October 2027, but the regulations have not yet been published. It is likely that HR teams will have a year to prepare. It is also important to note that the time limits for employment tribunal claims (depending on the date of dismissal and act of discrimination) increased from 3 to 6 months on 1 October 2026.
HR teams should:
- consider who is protected and track pregnancy notifications, all the relevant leave types, return dates, and when protection ends;
- sign off on any dismissal of someone in the protected period, including during probation;
- introduce a simple ‘alternatives considered’ record covering warnings, support, re-training, redeployment, and flexible working, and note why each was or was not suitable. This document will be key to any defence in the employment tribunal;
- update disciplinary, capability, absence, probation, redundancy, and family-leave policies;
- train managers on early, consistent, and well-documented performance management, because timing will be closely scrutinised;
- review live cases that are likely to continue to October 2027;
- keep an eye on recruitment to ensure women are not being recruited because they might become pregnant, as this just swaps one claim for another.
If you have questions or concerns about the new protections, please contact Employment partner Emma Clark.
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