Minister explains next steps on fire and rehire and pregnancy dismissal protections
A ministerial statement on 2 November 2026 outlined the proposed fire and rehire framework and planned stronger pregnancy and family leave dismissal protections. Fire and rehire regulations were intended for March 2027 and enhanced pregnancy protections for October 2027, while consultation on a…
A ministerial statement to Parliament on 2 November 2026 explained further implementation steps for restrictions on fire and rehire and stronger dismissal protection connected with pregnancy and relevant family leave. The statement, made by Kate Dearden, Minister for the Future of Work, described the Government's intended framework and the next stages of consultation and regulation.
The immediate development was a parliamentary implementation update, not the commencement of all the protections discussed. The statement identified March 2027 as the intended timing for fire and rehire regulations and October 2027 for enhanced pregnancy protections. Those future dates should not be presented as rights already brought into force by the statement itself.
The proposed approach to fire and rehire
The statement explains that the Employment Rights Act 2025 will make it automatically unfair to dismiss an employee in order to change certain core contractual terms. It identifies reductions to pay or leave, changes to working hours or pension arrangements, and specified changes to shift patterns as examples of the relevant restricted variations.
That is a more specific proposition than saying that every dismissal followed by an offer of work will automatically be unlawful. The scope of the protected terms, the reason for dismissal and any statutory exception will matter. Employers and employees will need to examine the applicable legislation rather than relying on the label attached to a restructuring exercise.