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Employee pregnancy notification received

What to do when an employee notifies you of pregnancy. Time-sensitive compliance actions under MHSWR 1999 Regulations 16-18 covering risk assessment, action hierarchy, and ongoing monitoring.

Running Updated 3 November 2026

  1. Acknowledge the notification

    Your duties to act start once she tells you in writing.

  2. Assess the risks of her work

    Start from your general risk assessment and assess the risks to her in her particular job.

    Protect new and expectant mothers at work

  3. Remove the risk in the order the law sets

    Alter her conditions or hours first, then offer suitable alternative work, and suspend on full pay only as a last resort.

  4. Keep the assessment under review

    Review the assessment as her pregnancy progresses, when anything changes and when she returns to work.

Official guidance

HSE - New and expectant mothers at work (opens in a new tab)

HSE · Great Britain

MHSWR 1999 Regulation 16 (legislation.gov.uk) (opens in a new tab)

legislation

Employment Rights Act 1996, Part VII (opens in a new tab)

legislation

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