Firing new parents gets harder in the UK from 2027

The UK government will make it harder for employers to dismiss pregnant women and new parents from October 2027.

The government announced the change on Thursday (22 October), as campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed reported that 73% of women experience pregnancy or maternity discrimination.

Employment tribunals will apply a new proportionality test in dismissal cases involving these employees, replacing the current band of reasonable responses test.

The existing test asks how a reasonable employer would act, while the new approach requires employers to show they considered all reasonable alternatives before dismissing someone.

The protections will also cover employees taking adoption leave, shared parental leave, neonatal care leave and bereaved partner’s paternity leave. Tribunals will keep using the band of reasonable responses test for all other unfair dismissal cases.

The government also plans to introduce regulations restricting changes to pay and shift patterns for the same groups of employees, as part of its response on fire and rehire practices.

“No one should have to choose between starting a family and staying in work,” said Kate Dearden, Minister for the Future of Work.

“These new protections will raise the bar for employers, making it harder to dismiss pregnant women and new parents unfairly and helping families feel more secure at work,” Dearden added.

The measures form part of the Employment Rights Act, which the government said will benefit over 18 million people.

“Every week we hear from women whose careers, finances and confidence have been knocked by unfair treatment during pregnancy, maternity leave or their return to work, and we’ve been taking this evidence to government for over a decade,” said Rachel Grocott, CEO of Pregnant Then Screwed.

“There is, of course, still lots more work to do to tackle the wider motherhood penalty,” Grocott added.

“We speak to thousands of women each year who are worried about losing their jobs simply because they are pregnant or have had a baby,” said Ali Fiddy, Director of Maternity Action.

The British Chambers of Commerce also welcomed the reforms and said it wants practical guidance for employers.

“They give families greater security while recognising that businesses sometimes have to make difficult decisions for legitimate reasons,” said Kate Shoesmith, Director of Policy and Insights at the British Chambers of Commerce.

Now read: Barclays spends £201 million replacing staff with new tech