Made redundant while pregnant, on parental leave, sick, injured (ACC) or grieving

The principle

Being pregnant, on leave or unwell doesn't make you immune from redundancy, and the process still has to be run with you. What it does is make some decisions unlawful: choosing you because of the leave, pregnancy, injury, or disability, or marking you down for absences covered by leave entitlements. That can be a personal grievance for unjustified dismissal or for discrimination.

On parental leave

• Employment NZ says that for leave of up to 4 weeks in your first leave period for a child, your job must be kept open. For longer leave, it must be kept open unless it's a key position or becomes redundant.
• A redundancy during leave is only lawful if the redundancy situation arose after your employer agreed your leave and told you in writing your job would be kept open, and they have no similar position to offer you.
• Employers must keep you informed about potential changes. Ask for the proposal in writing and for a consultation method that works while you're on leave (phone, video, your home email).
• Employment NZ says that if your key position was filled by someone else, or the redundancy was already known when you applied for leave, you get a 26-week period of preference after leave ends: the employer must offer you a very similar job before anyone else. It doesn't apply if the redundancy was unknown at that point or arises during your leave.
• Losing your job because of a key-position decision or redundancy doesn't affect your parental leave payments.

While pregnant, or just back

• You can raise a discrimination grievance if the decision is linked to pregnancy, breastfeeding, or family status.
• Compare your treatment to others. Were you scored down for medical appointments, or left out of key meetings?
• Time limit: 90 days for most grievances. Sexual harassment claims have a longer period (12 months).
• Keep emails, messages and notes of anything said about your pregnancy or leave.

Sick, injured or on ACC

Law-firm commentary reports an ERA case where a worker was told on the day of a graduated return-to-work meeting that she had been replaced, with no process followed, and was awarded $18,350 in total (lost wages, compensation and costs). In another case, an employer lowered a carpenter's reliability score because of sick leave, and the ERA ordered $20,000 compensation, saying absence on statutory sick leave does not indicate a deficiency in performance. These are examples, not guarantees, but they show how seriously the Authority treats this.

• An employer can't ignore your absence, but the question is whether the role is genuinely redundant, not whether you were unwell.
• Employers are not generally required to hold a job open indefinitely once sick leave runs out, but they must act fairly and consult you.
• Ask your GP or ACC case manager for support in writing if you're being excluded from the process.
• If you're on ACC weekly compensation, tell your case manager straight away. Payments may change when your job ends.

Grief and other leave

Bereavement leave, sick leave and other statutory leave are entitlements, not performance problems. Ask the employer to confirm in writing that none of these absences was counted in scoring. If your employer should have given you more time because of a death or crisis, ask for an extension; reasonable time to respond is part of a fair process.

Where to get help

Employment NZ (0800 20 90 20), Community Law, a union, or the Human Rights Commission for discrimination questions. See also the grievance guide and the wellbeing guide.