Your Legal Rights | The Maternity Plan

Under the Equality Act 2010, pregnancy and maternity are protected characteristics, meaning employers cannot treat you unfairly because of your pregnancy, maternity leave, or related responsibilities. This protection covers every stage, from announcing your pregnancy to returning to work after leave.

Knowing your rights doesn't just protect you legally, it helps you advocate confidently for yourself and plan your return to work without unnecessary stress.

Where You're Protected

Unfair Dismissal

You cannot be dismissed because you are pregnant or on maternity leave. Any dismissal related to pregnancy or maternity leave is automatically considered unfair. Employers must follow proper procedures for legitimate reasons unrelated to pregnancy.

Example: A manager wants to make an employee's role redundant while she's on maternity leave. This is automatically unfair unless the redundancy is genuine and unrelated to her pregnancy, and she must be considered alongside other employees for any suitable alternative role.

Reduced Pay or Benefits Due to Pregnancy

Your pay, bonuses, pension, or other benefits cannot be reduced simply because you are pregnant or on maternity leave. Entitlement to contractual benefits continues during maternity leave, and any difference in treatment based on pregnancy or maternity is unlawful.

Example: An employee notices her bonus was lowered while she was on maternity leave. She can raise this with HR, any reduction solely due to maternity leave would be discriminatory.

Redundancy, Priority for a Suitable Alternative Role

Since April 2024, if you're made redundant while pregnant, on maternity leave, or within 18 months of your child's birth, you have priority over other at-risk employees for any suitable alternative vacancy, your employer must offer it to you first, not just let you apply alongside everyone else. This doesn't mean you can't be made redundant at all, it means if a suitable role exists, you get it before anyone else at risk is considered.

Example: An employee's department is restructured while she's on maternity leave. A similar role opens up elsewhere in the company. She must be offered that role directly, ahead of other employees at risk of redundancy, not required to compete for it via a normal interview process.

If You Don't Return, Statutory Maternity Pay Is Not Repayable

Statutory Maternity Pay is yours to keep regardless of whether you return to work, it cannot be clawed back. This is genuinely different from enhanced (contractual) maternity pay, where many employers do include a repayment clause if you leave within a set period after returning. Check your contract specifically for this, it varies by employer and isn't something the law standardises.

Unused Annual Leave If You Leave

If you resign and have statutory annual leave you haven't used, your employer must pay you for it rather than simply losing it, this applies whether you resign during maternity leave or afterwards.

A Second Pregnancy During or Shortly After Maternity Leave

Becoming pregnant again doesn't reset or block your rights, you'd be assessed for Statutory Maternity Pay eligibility fresh each time against the same test (continuous employment and average earnings in the run-up to the new qualifying week). Whether you'd need to have returned to work between pregnancies to qualify again depends on your specific dates, this is worth checking directly with HR/payroll against your circumstances, since the interaction with a second period of leave can get genuinely complex.

Breastfeeding and Expressing at Work

This is more nuanced than it's often assumed to be: there is no direct legal right to paid breastfeeding or pumping breaks in the UK. What does exist: your employer must provide suitable rest facilities under health and safety law (a toilet does not count), carry out a risk assessment and discuss break timing with you, and unreasonably refusing to accommodate your needs could amount to indirect sex discrimination under the Equality Act 2010. In practice, most employers do accommodate this, but it's worth knowing the actual legal footing is a discrimination-and-safety argument, not a standalone guaranteed right, when you're having the conversation.

Denial of Promotion, Training, or Career Opportunities

Employers cannot block your career progression because of pregnancy, maternity leave, or related flexible working requests. This includes denying promotions, training, secondments, or development opportunities. If a temporary role or project is offered to others but not to you due to your leave, it may be discriminatory.

Example: An employee applies for a leadership training course while on maternity leave. Her manager refuses, citing her absence. She can challenge this, being on maternity leave cannot be a reason for exclusion.

Practical Tips to Protect Yourself

Document everything: keep emails, meeting notes, and written decisions related to promotions, pay, or role changes.

Communicate clearly: notify HR if you suspect unfair treatment. Professional, polite communication helps protect your rights.

If Something Doesn't Feel Right

You are protected under the Equality Act 2010, and you do not have to face unfair treatment alone. If you believe you've been treated unfairly because of pregnancy, maternity leave, or returning to work, it's important to seek support early. Most employers want to do the right thing, but if something feels unfair, you have every right to ask questions and seek support.

ACAS (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service)

Free, confidential advice and early conciliation services to help resolve workplace issues.

www.acas.org.uk · 0300 123 1100

Maternity Action

The UK's leading charity offering expert advice on maternity rights, discrimination, and benefits.

www.maternityaction.org.uk

If internal discussions with your employer don't resolve the issue, ACAS can help you explore next steps such as mediation or, if necessary, a tribunal claim.

Decoding Your Maternity Policy

Company maternity policies are often written in dense HR/legal language. This isn't your policy specifically, we can't read or interpret the actual document you have, but these are the clauses that come up again and again, translated into plain English, with what actually matters flagged for each one.

Enhanced Pay Repayment Clause

Your policy may say: "If the employee does not return to work for a minimum period of [X months], the enhanced element of maternity pay must be repaid."

In plain English: if you take the extra (non-statutory) pay on top of SMP, but leave your job within a set time after coming back, you may have to pay some or all of that extra amount back.

What matters: this only ever applies to the enhanced/contractual portion, Statutory Maternity Pay itself can never be clawed back. Check exactly what "minimum period" means, and whether redundancy is excluded from the repayment condition.

Contractual Benefits Continuing

Your policy may say: "All contractual benefits will continue throughout the maternity leave period, save for salary which will be paid in accordance with the Company's maternity pay scheme."

In plain English: things like pension, health insurance, or a company car should carry on as normal, only your regular salary is replaced by maternity pay.

What matters: if your policy doesn't explicitly list which benefits continue, ask rather than assume, company cars in particular get treated inconsistently between employers.

Notice Requirements

Your policy may say: "Employees must give at least [X weeks'] notice of their intended return date, and any change to that date."

In plain English: if you want to come back earlier or later than originally planned, you need to tell your employer with a certain amount of warning.

What matters: the legal minimum for returning earlier than planned is 8 weeks' notice, but your contract might specify something different, check the actual number written down.

Keeping in Touch (KIT) Days

Your policy may say: "Up to 10 Keeping in Touch days may be worked during maternity leave, subject to agreement with your line manager, and will be paid at [X]."

In plain English: you can work up to 10 days during your leave without it affecting your maternity leave, but how much you're paid for each day depends entirely on what your employer offers.

What matters: confirm the actual rate before agreeing to a KIT day, and how it interacts with your maternity pay for that specific week.

Annual Leave Carry-Over

Your policy may say: "Annual leave accrued during maternity leave which cannot be taken in the current leave year may be carried forward to the following year."

In plain English: any holiday you build up while off can usually be carried over if you can't use it all before the year ends, rather than losing it.

What matters: ask specifically how much can carry over and by when it must be used, some policies cap this.

Bonus or Commission Calculation

Your policy may say: "Bonus payments will be pro-rated to reflect the proportion of the bonus year actually worked."

In plain English: if your bonus is based on time actually worked, your maternity leave period might reduce it proportionally, the same way any extended absence would.

What matters: this is different from cutting your bonus specifically because you're on maternity leave, which would be discriminatory. Pro-rating based on time worked is generally lawful if applied consistently to any long absence, not singled out for maternity.

Redundancy/Restructure Procedure

Your policy may say: "In the event of redundancy during maternity leave, the employee will be included in the consultation process and offered suitable alternative employment where available, in line with statutory requirements."

In plain English: your employer is confirming in writing they'll follow the legal priority process (see "Where You're Protected" above) rather than leaving you out of restructuring conversations while you're away.

What matters: if your policy doesn't mention this at all, the legal right still applies regardless, this is just your employer choosing to state it explicitly. Worth asking who specifically would keep you informed if a restructure happened during your leave.

My Policy Notes

Work through your own policy alongside the reference above. Note down anything unclear, and turn it into a specific question rather than staying unsure.

Questions to Ask HR

Tick what applies to your situation, get the exact questions to bring to HR or payroll, with the legal context alongside each one.

Go to the Question Generator

If Something Happens, Your Record

Keep a factual, dated record here if anything feels off. This stays private to you, it isn't included in your downloadable Blueprint.