Reform UK Proposes Women and Motherhood Protection Act Ahead of Makerfield Byelection
The party says the new law would replace the 2010 Equality Act while keeping equal pay for equal work and extending maternity unfair-dismissal claims from three to 12 months. Unions say the plan would remove equal pay for work of equal value.
theconversation.comReform UK proposed a Women and Motherhood Protection Act days before the Makerfield byelection. The measure would supersede the 2010 Equality Act. The party stated the new Act would keep the principle that women and men receive the same pay for the same work.
It added that equal pay law would remain focused on genuine cases of pay discrimination rather than allowing courts and tribunals to determine the relative value of different occupations. Reform UK said the Act would extend the time limit for pregnancy and maternity claims of unfair dismissal from three months to 12 months.
The party stated new mothers should be focused on their child, not paperwork, and that no woman should lose her legal rights because she spent the first months of motherhood being a mum.
Reform UK stated a Reform UK government will be the most pro-woman, pro-mother and pro-family government in modern British history. It also stated the Equal Pay Act 1970 ensures women and men receive the same pay for the same work and that the Employment Rights Act 1996 ensured rights to parental leave and protection against unfair dismissal.
More than 3,500 workers at the clothes store Next won a six-year battle in 2024 when an employment tribunal ruled store staff should not have been paid at lower rates than warehouse employees.
Voters in Makerfield will go to the polls on Thursday. Andy Burnham's electoral and prime ministerial aspirations are being challenged by Reform UK candidate Robert Kenyon in the Makerfield byelection. ” Kenyon admitted to making “crass comments” about television presenter Carol Vorderman.
