This Section amends Part 5B of the ERA 1996 which gives the Secretary of State the power to make provision in regulations about redundancy during or after a protected period of pregnancy.
	Subsection (3) inserts "or dismissal" into the heading of section 49D after "Redundancy".
	Subsection (4) inserts new subsection (1A) into section 49D, giving the Secretary of State a new power to make similar regulations to make provision about dismissal, for reasons other than redundancy, during or after a "protected period of pregnancy".
	Subsection (5) amends subsection (3) of section 49D to insert "or (1A)" after "subsection (1)".
	Subsection (6) inserts new section 49E into Part 5B.
	Subsection (7) inserts "or dismissal" into the heading of Part 5B of the ERA 1996 after "Redundancy".
	By virtue of these amendments, the existing suite of powers relating to redundancy are made available in relation to dismissals for other reasons. That includes the power, at section 49D(2), to set out in regulations how the protected period of pregnancy is to be calculated and the provision at section 49D(4) that this may include provision for the protected period of pregnancy to commence after the pregnancy has ended. This is to allow, for example, a woman who has miscarried before informing her employer of the pregnancy to access the dismissal protection she will have been entitled to had she first informed her employer.
	It also encompasses the power to include, in the regulations, provision requiring the employer to offer alternative employment and provision stipulating that a failure to comply with the regulations will result in the dismissal being treated as unfair.
Part 1: Employment Rights Dismissal Section 26: Dismissal during pregnancy