Getting a redundancy letter while you're on maternity leave or off sick is about as welcome as a parking ticket on your birthday. But you're not as powerless as it feels.

You can be made redundant while on maternity leave or sick leave, but your employer has to follow much stricter rules. If they don't, you could have a very strong claim.

This is one of the areas where people have the most leverage and know the least about it. If you're pregnant, on maternity leave, or off sick with a disability, read this carefully.

Maternity leave and pregnancy

If you're on maternity leave and your job is genuinely being made redundant, your employer has a specific legal obligation that doesn't apply to anyone else.

They must offer you any suitable alternative vacancy first. Not interview you for it. Not consider you alongside other candidates. Offer it to you, ahead of everyone else. This comes from regulation 10 of the Maternity and Parental Leave Regulations 1999.

If there's a suitable role and they gave it to someone else, or they didn't tell you about it, that's a problem for them.

On top of that, if the real reason for your redundancy is connected to your pregnancy or maternity leave, it's automatically unfair dismissal under ERA 1996, s.99. That means:

  • No qualifying service needed. You don't need 2 years' service to bring the claim.
  • No compensation cap. Unlike ordinary unfair dismissal, there's no upper limit on what a tribunal can award.
  • It's also discrimination. Pregnancy-related dismissal is sex discrimination under the Equality Act 2010, which gives you a separate claim with uncapped compensation.

Employers know all this. Which is why, if you're in this situation, they will often offer significantly more to settle.

Sick leave

Being off sick doesn't make you immune from redundancy. If the redundancy is genuine, your employer can include you in the process even if you're not at work.

But there are important protections depending on why you're off sick.

If your illness counts as a disability under the Equality Act 2010 (a physical or mental condition that has a substantial and long-term effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities), your employer must:

  • Not use your sickness absence as a selection criterion, or give it disproportionate weight
  • Make reasonable adjustments to the process (for example, holding meetings at times or in formats that work for you)
  • Consider whether alternative roles could work with reasonable adjustments

If they scored you down because of disability-related absence, that's likely disability discrimination. And like pregnancy discrimination, compensation is uncapped.

If your illness isn't a disability, you still have the same consultation and process rights as everyone else. Your employer can't skip proper consultation just because you're off sick. They need to make reasonable efforts to include you in the process, which might mean phone calls, video meetings, or written correspondence.

How to tell if the redundancy is really about your pregnancy or health

Ask yourself:

  • Was the timing suspicious? Did the redundancy come shortly after you announced your pregnancy or went off sick?
  • Were other people in similar roles kept on?
  • Did the selection criteria seem designed to score you badly?
  • Has your employer's attitude towards you changed since your pregnancy or illness?
  • Were you excluded from discussions or kept out of the loop?

None of these things prove anything on their own. But a pattern starts to build a picture. Tribunals look at the overall circumstances, not just one factor.

What to do

Act quickly if you think pregnancy is a factor. If you believe your redundancy is connected to pregnancy or maternity, you should get legal advice as soon as possible. Tribunal time limits are strict: you normally have to start ACAS early conciliation within 3 months less one day of your dismissal date.

Keep everything. Emails, letters, meeting notes, text messages. Anything that shows the timeline and how you were treated compared to others.

Don't assume you have no claim. A lot of people on maternity leave or sick leave accept redundancy because they feel vulnerable. But in reality, you're in a stronger legal position than most other employees.

Remember your employer pays for legal advice. A settlement agreement isn't valid unless you've had independent advice from a solicitor (ERA 1996, s.203). Your employer pays for this. Use it.

This article is general guidance about UK redundancy rights. It's not legal advice and shouldn't be treated as a substitute for advice from a qualified employment solicitor. If you believe your redundancy is connected to pregnancy, maternity, or disability, seek advice from a solicitor as soon as possible.