MPs have just agreed to radically extend the rights of pregnant women and mothers in a redundancy situation by approving a Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Bill. Under this, from the moment a woman tells her employer that she is pregnant up to the point her child is 18 months old, she will have protection from redundancy dismissal and a right to positive discrimination in respect of suitable alternative vacancies, if her role is nevertheless placed at risk. It will also provide protection to parents on shared parental or adoption leave too. Provided it moves forward, it is set to become law later this year and supplement the protection that the Equality Act 2010 already affords to women from discrimination because they are pregnant or on maternity leave. Plus the rights that women on maternity leave and any parent on shared parental or adoption leave have under The Maternity and Parental Leave etc. Regulations 1999. Research conducted by the Equality and Human Rights Commission shows why this enhanced protection is required. The Commission found that three in four working mothers said they experienced pregnancy and maternity discrimination, one in nine was either made compulsorily redundant where others in their office were not, otherwise dismissed, or treated so poorly that they felt they had to leave their job. Tens of thousands of women are pushed out of the workforce every year for simply being pregnant. The charity, Pregnant Then Screwed, considers more needs to be done. For example, to get employers to grant more part-time or wider flexible working arrangements. To double the current three month time limit for taking the necessary steps to bring an unfair dismissal claim, to encourage more women to challenge discriminatory dismissals. At the end of last year, it supported Donna Patterson, a former buyer for Morrisons. An Employment Tribunal awarded her just over £60,000, having been “unfavourably treated” as she was subjected to a “detriment of indirect sex discrimination after her maternity leave”. The supermarket had asked Ms Patterson to fulfil the responsibilities of a full-time worker when she returned from maternity leave, despite her being employed on a part-time contract. She raised concerns about her being able to fulfil her new responsibilities in her contracted hours but was told: “Prioritise things a bit better and get your head in the right place and get your mindset right”. In December 2021, whilst signed off work with work-related stress, her manager contacted her with a work-related query. By March 2022, Ms Patterson was serving her notice and on her way out. Once her employment had ended, she submitted a data subject access request. This produced a letter that showed that, whilst she was pregnant, there were already plans in place to demote her. This comes as no surprise to us, given cases which we ourselves have worked on in the past.