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Section 6A: Exception relating to terms and conditions during maternity leave

Sex Discrimination Act 1975 · 1975 c. 65View on legislation.gov.uk

This provision is repealed
It is retained for historical reference and may not reflect the law currently in force.

Part II: EMPLOYMENT FIELD

REPEALED on 2010-10-01 by Equality Act 2010.

The text below is from the dated revised snapshot immediately preceding this status change. It is historical and is not current law. View the historical source.

Subject to subsection (2), section 6(1)(b) and (2) does not make it unlawful to deprive a woman who is on maternity leave of any benefit from the terms and conditions of her employment relating to remuneration.

The reference in subsection (1) to benefit from the terms and conditions of a woman's employment relating to remuneration does not include a reference to—

maternity-related remuneration (including maternity-related remuneration that is increase-related),
remuneration (including increase-related remuneration) in respect of times when the woman is not on maternity leave, or
remuneration by way of bonus in respect of times when a woman is on compulsory maternity leave.

For the purposes of subsection (2), remuneration is increase-related so far as it falls to be calculated by reference to increases in remuneration that the woman would have received had she not been on maternity leave.

In this section—“maternity-related remuneration”, in relation to a woman, means remuneration to which she is entitled as a result of being pregnant or being on maternity leave;“on compulsory maternity leave” means absent from work in consequence of the prohibition in section 72(1) of the Employment Rights Act 1996;“on maternity leave” means—

on compulsory maternity leave,
absent from work in exercise of the right conferred by section 71(1) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ordinary maternity leave), or
absent from work in exercise of the right conferred by section 73(1) of that Act (additional maternity leave); and
that consist of the payment of money to an employee by way of wages or salary, and
that are not benefits whose provision is regulated by the employee's contract of employment.

“remuneration” means benefits—

About this text

This legislation text comes from legislation.gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. These source and reuse terms cover the legislation text, not Remedy's commentary.

Reuse reviewed 21 August 2026 under Open Government Licence v3.0.