Britain plans tougher new-parent dismissal protection

The UK government has set out plans to make employers meet a tougher test before dismissing pregnant employees and some new parents, with the changes intended to take effect in October 2027. The policy covers England, Scotland and Wales. It is not a new protection already in force across the United Kingdom.

In its consultation response published on 22 October, the government said dismissal during the protected period would have to be justified as a proportionate way of achieving a legitimate business aim. That would replace the current test of whether an employer's decision fell within the range of responses a reasonable employer might adopt.

For employees returning from maternity leave, the planned protection would continue for six months after the leave ends. The government also intends to bring adoption leave and several other forms of family leave within the new framework, although the conditions would differ between leave types.

What employers would have to show

The proposed change would not prohibit every dismissal during pregnancy or after parental leave. The government has decided to retain all five potentially fair reasons for dismissal: capability, conduct, redundancy, a statutory prohibition and some other substantial reason. The change concerns how the fairness of a dismissal would be assessed during the protected period.

An employer would need to explain the business objective behind the dismissal and why ending the person's employment was a proportionate response. The government says this would ordinarily require consideration of reasonably viable alternatives, rather than relying solely on the existence of a potentially fair reason.

Those alternatives could include temporary changes to duties, workplace adjustments or a suitable different role. The response says guidance will explain the approach in practice. It does not set out a single prescribed process for every workplace, and the government expects the circumstances of the employer to remain relevant when the test is applied.

The policy also distinguishes these planned protections from existing rules. Dismissal for a reason connected to pregnancy or maternity can already be automatically unfair from the start of employment. The new framework is intended to strengthen scrutiny of dismissals for other reasons during the protected period, rather than create pregnancy discrimination protection for the first time.

When the protection would start and end

The government intends the enhanced dismissal protection to be a day-one employment right, without a minimum service requirement. For a pregnant employee, the trigger would be telling the employer about the pregnancy. The response explicitly allows either verbal notification or notification in writing.

Protection would run through pregnancy and maternity leave, followed by six months after the leave ends. Where a pregnancy ends before 24 weeks and there is no entitlement to maternity leave, the government plans a two-week period of continued protection. These are policy decisions for the forthcoming regulations, not an instruction that employers should treat October 2027 rules as already operative.

Existing redundancy-specific protections would remain, including their 18-month protected period. The government has chosen a different end point for the broader dismissal framework because it links that protection to the period after leave, rather than setting one end date measured from the child's birth for every dismissal situation.

Employees taking adoption leave would receive protection during leave and for six months afterwards. Shared parental leave, neonatal care leave and bereaved partner's paternity leave would also be covered from the first day of leave. For those three categories, six months of additional protection after leave would require at least six continuous weeks of qualifying leave.

Regulations and guidance still to come

The response follows a consultation held from 23 October 2025 to 15 January 2026, which received 873 responses. Those submissions included individuals with lived experience, employers, unions and other organisations. They informed the policy choices; the response does not present them as a representative survey of every workplace.

The government says it will implement the changes through regulations and develop practical guidance with employers, unions and charities, supported by information from Acas. October 2027 is the intended commencement date. For now, the announcement establishes the planned test and coverage, while the regulations and implementation guidance remain the next steps.