Can I be sacked while pregnant in the UK?

Pregnancy and maternity are protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. Dismissing an employee because of pregnancy, a pregnancy-related illness, or for taking or intending to take maternity leave is unlawful direct sex discrimination as well as an automatically unfair dismissal. Critically, these protections apply from day one of employment — you do not need 2 years' service. The 'protected period' begins when your pregnancy starts and ends 2 weeks after the birth (or at the end of maternity leave, whichever is later).

During the protected period, any detrimental treatment connected to your pregnancy is presumed to be unlawful. This includes: performance management triggered by pregnancy-related absences, redundancy selection criteria that disadvantage you, failure to make reasonable adjustments for pregnancy-related conditions, or dismissal while on maternity leave for a reason connected to the pregnancy. Even if the employer was not aware of the pregnancy at the time of dismissal, the protection can still apply once they become aware.

If you are at risk of redundancy while pregnant or on maternity leave, you have an additional right: the right to be offered any suitable alternative vacancy in your employer's organisation (or an associated entity) before other employees at risk — even if you have not applied for it. Failure to offer you this priority right is automatically unfair dismissal. You can bring both an unfair dismissal claim and an Equality Act claim in the Employment Tribunal — the time limit is 3 months from the last act, after ACAS early conciliation.