Maternity Protection, Employment Equality and Preservation of Certain Records Act 2024

The Maternity Protection, Employment Equality and Preservation of Certain Records Act 2024 was passed in October 2024. 

What is the Maternity Protection, Employment Equality and Preservation of Certain Records Act 2024?

This Act, which brings about changes to maternity leave and NDA agreements, makes amendments to the Maternity Protection Act 1994, the Employment Equality Act 1998, and the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005.  

Maternity Leave

The first takeaway is that employees are now entitled to postpone their maternity leave in the event of a serious illness or health condition. If an employee is pregnant or on maternity leave, and suffers from a serious medical condition, they can request to postpone some, or all, of their maternity leave for a period of between five and 52 weeks. A ‘serious health condition’ means a health condition that entails a serious risk to the life or health of the employee, including mental health. 

NDA Agreements

The second key takeaway from this Act is that any NDA which attempts to stop employees from sharing information about allegations of discrimination, victimisation, harassment, sexual harassment, or other such issues, will now be considered null and void. The only exception to this is in the case of an “excepted non-disclosure agreement”, where the employee has requested the NDA themselves and has received sufficient legal advice prior to signing the agreement.