In theory English employment law provides women on maternity leave with very strong protection. Once a woman notifies her employer that she is pregnant, the “protected period” applies giving her enhanced protection from redundancy. This remains in effect until her maternity leave ends. Should a redundancy situation arise during the protected period, then the mother must be offered a suitable alternative role - notably, in preference to any other comparable employee. Such preferential treatment is one of the rare examples in English law where positive discrimination is not only permitted, but mandatory.