Don't do it, if you can possibly avoid it. Unless you are closing down a whole site, or a whole section, you may find it difficult to rebut the suspicion that you have selected this employee for redundancy because she is pregnant, which could leave you open to penalties for unfair dismissal and sex discrimination.
If a redundancy situation arises during an employee's ordinary maternity leave or
additional maternity leave, you must consider whether it is reasonably practicable to continue to employ her in her existing job. This will involve considering whether the employee on maternity leave, or some other employee, should be selected for redundancy. If you decide to select the employee on maternity leave, you must offer her any suitable vacancy that is available, or pay redundancy pay, just as with the other employees affected.
