Job restructure while on maternity leave: who helps?

Summary

If your role is affected by a restructure while on maternity leave, you have extra rights. If your job is at risk of redundancy, you must be offered any suitable alternative vacancy ahead of colleagues who are not on leave. Since April 2024 that protection runs from when you tell your employer you are pregnant until 18 months after the birth. You should be consulted like everyone else. Treating you less well because you are on maternity leave is discrimination. Maternity Action and Pregnant Then Screwed give free specialist advice, ACAS explains your rights and runs early conciliation, and a solicitor helps if your role is removed or a deadline is close.

Key information

• Right to return: after 26 weeks of leave, to the same job. After longer leave, to the same job, or a suitable one on terms no worse if the same job is not reasonably practicable.
• Priority for vacancies: applies when your role is genuinely redundant. A "suitable" role should match your skills, status and terms.
• Consultation: your employer should tell you about the restructure, any new roles and selection criteria, even while you are off.
• Employee: has the redundancy priority and right to return.
• Worker, zero hours or agency worker: the priority right is for employees, but pregnancy and maternity discrimination protection can still apply. Check your status with ACAS.
• Keep everything in writing: emails, meeting notes, new structure charts, job descriptions.
• Deadline: tribunal claims are usually due within 3 months less one day of what happened, and you must contact ACAS for early conciliation first.
• When to speak to a solicitor: your role is removed or downgraded, you are offered a clearly worse job, you are dismissed, or the deadline is close.
• Maternity Action can: give free advice on maternity rights, redundancy and discrimination through their advice services. They will not represent you at tribunal or negotiate with your employer.
• Pregnant Then Screwed can: offer free advice on pregnancy and maternity discrimination at work. See Pregnant Then Screwed. They will not take on your case as your legal representative in most situations.
• ACAS can: explain redundancy protection for pregnancy and new parents and pregnancy and maternity discrimination; run early conciliation, which you need before a tribunal claim. They will not take sides, or bring the claim for you.
• A union can: represent you in consultation and grievance meetings and, for members, often fund legal advice. They will not usually help with problems that started before you joined. Find one via the TUC.

Practical guidance

• Ask your employer in writing for the restructure details, any new roles, and to be consulted.
• Get free advice from Maternity Action or Pregnant Then Screwed.
• Call the ACAS helpline to check your status and options.
• If offered a role, compare it with your current job and say in writing if it is not suitable and why.
• Raise a grievance if you are treated less well. Use your union if you have one.
• Note the date of each decision. Contact ACAS for early conciliation well before the 3 month deadline.
• See a solicitor or a Law Centre if your role is removed, downgraded or you are dismissed.
• Ask the Shaman to map the steps and dates.

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