Trade Union Reform and Employment Rights Act 1993

24 Dismissal rights

(1) For section 60 of the 1978 Act (dismissal on ground of pregnancy) there shall be substituted—

“60 Dismissal on ground of pregnancy or childbirth

An employee shall be treated for the purposes of this Part as unfairly dismissed if—

(a) the reason (or, if there is more than one, the principal reason) for her dismissal is that she is pregnant or any other reason connected with her pregnancy,

(b) her maternity leave period is ended by the dismissal and the reason (or, if there is more than one, the principal reason) for her dismissal is that she has given birth to a child or any other reason connected with her having given birth to a child,

(c) the reason (or, if there is more than one, the principal reason) for her dismissal, where her contract of employment was terminated after the end of her maternity leave period, is that she took, or availed herself of the benefits of, maternity leave,

(d) the reason (or, if there is more than one, the principal reason) for her dismissal, where—

(i) before the end of her maternity leave period, she gave to her employer a certificate from a registered medical practitioner stating that by reason of disease or bodily or mental disablement she would be incapable of work after the end of that period, and

(ii) her contract of employment was terminated within the four week period following the end of her maternity leave period in circumstances where she continued to be incapable of work and the certificate relating to her incapacity remained current,

is that she has given birth to a child or any other reason connected with her having given birth to a child,

(e) the reason (or, if there is more than one, the principal reason) for her dismissal is a requirement or recommendation such as is referred to in section 45(1), or

(f) her maternity leave period is ended by the dismissal, and the reason (or, if there is more than one, the principal reason) for her dismissal is that she is redundant and section 38 has not been complied with.

For the purposes of paragraph (c) above a woman “takes maternity leave” if she is absent from work during her maternity leave period and a woman “avails herself of the benefits of maternity leave” if, during her maternity leave period, she avails herself of the benefit of any of the terms and conditions of her employment preserved by section 33 during that period.”.

(2) In section 59 of the 1978 Act (dismissal on ground of redundancy),—

(a) for the words “employer, and” there shall be substituted the words “employer, and either—

(a) that the reason (or, if more than one, the principal reason) for which the employee was selected for dismissal was an inadmissible reason; or”; and

(b) there shall be inserted at the end, as subsection (2), the following—

“(2) For the purposes of this section “inadmissible”, in relation to a reason, means that it is one of those specified in section 60(a) to (e)”;

and the words preceding that subsection (2) shall become subsection (1).

(3) In section 64 of the 1978 Act (qualifying period for right not to be unfairly dismissed), after subsection (2) there shall be inserted—

“(3) Subsection (1) shall not apply to the dismissal of an employee if it is shown that the reason (or, if more than one, the principal reason) for the dismissal or, in a redundancy case, for selecting the employee for dismissal, was an inadmissible reason.

(4) For the purposes of subsection (3) “inadmissible”, in relation to a reason, means that it is one of those specified in section 60(a) to (e).

(5) Subsection (1) shall not apply to a case falling within section 60(f).”.

(4) In section 53 of that Act (written statement of reasons for dismissal), after subsection (2) there shall be inserted—

“(2A) An employee shall be entitled (without making any request and irrespective of whether or not she has been continuously employed for any period) to be provided by her employer with a written statement giving particulars of the reasons for her dismissal if she is dismissed—

(a) at any time while she is pregnant, or

(b) after childbirth in circumstances in which her maternity leave period ends by reason of the dismissal.”.