Employees on maternity leave have special legal rights and protections and so before making such employees redundant you must tread very carefully and be aware of the following five things. Otherwise you could risk facing a costly claim.

Genuine Redundancy Situation

You must be able to prove that there is a genuine need to reduce your headcount. If the real reason you want to dismiss your employee is because she has had a baby or is on maternity leave, you will be discriminating against her and could face a discrimination claim.  So, you must have evidence to prove why you need to make redundancies.

Fair Selection Process

You must choose who you are going to select for redundancy fairly and reasonably. This means you must choose a reasonable selection pool and apply fair, … more