Amelia DaviesHulu confirmed on 20 May 2026 that The Testaments will return for a second season, with 45 million hours streamed globally across Hulu and Disney+ since the first season debuted in April. The renewal arrived a week before the season-one finale dropped on 27 May, and UK viewers watching the Bruce Miller-run spinoff from Margaret Atwood's source novel on Disney+ have spent five weeks in Gilead — a fictional state built on the systematic removal of women's reproductive and employment rights. The real-world legal contrast is sharper than ever in 2026, and an employment solicitor's first observation is usually the same: most UK women do not actually know which rights they hold at work, or how to enforce them.
The fictional horror of Aunt Lydia's elite preparatory school for young women is not the point of the show that matters most to the average British viewer. The point is that real UK protections — built into the Equality Act 2010, the Maternity and Parental Leave Regulations, and the Employment Rights Act 1996 — are routinely under-enforced. A solicitor specialising in maternity and pregnancy discrimination will tell any client the same thing: the gap between what the law promises and what employers deliver is wide, and it closes only when individuals push back.
What the Equality Act 2010 actually protects
Pregnancy and maternity are one of nine protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010, and the protection runs from the moment a woman discloses her pregnancy through the end of her maternity leave. That covers direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment, and victimisation. According to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, around 54,000 women a year still lose their jobs in the UK as a direct consequence of pregnancy or maternity — a figure that has barely moved in a decade.
A specialist solicitor will explain that "losing a job" includes constructive dismissal (being forced out through hostile treatment), not just formal redundancy. If an employer suddenly removes responsibilities, excludes a pregnant employee from key meetings, or restructures her role while she is on leave, that is a pattern the tribunal will treat as evidence even if no single act is independently unlawful.
Redundancy protection: the post-2024 extension
The Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023 came into force on 6 April 2024 and extended redundancy protection from the start of pregnancy through 18 months from the expected week of childbirth — a near-doubling of the previous window. In practice, this means a pregnant employee or new mother is entitled to be offered any suitable alternative vacancy that exists within the employer's organisation before redundancy can be confirmed.
This is one of the most under-enforced rights in UK employment law. Employers regularly fail to offer the alternative role, often because HR does not realise the priority status exists. Solicitors who run pregnancy-redundancy tribunal claims report that this single point — failure to offer an alternative vacancy — is often the deciding factor in winning the case.
Maternity pay, leave, and shared parental leave
UK Statutory Maternity Pay runs for up to 39 weeks: the first six weeks at 90 percent of average weekly earnings, then 33 weeks at the lower of £184.03 (the 2026 rate) or 90 percent of earnings. Statutory Maternity Leave runs for up to 52 weeks regardless of how long the employee has worked for the employer.
Shared Parental Leave, introduced in 2015, lets eligible parents share up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay between them. Uptake remains low — under 5 percent of eligible couples, according to government estimates — partly because the rules are notoriously complex and partly because many employers offer no enhanced shared parental pay even when they offer enhanced maternity pay. A solicitor can advise whether that disparity itself amounts to indirect sex discrimination, a live legal question following recent EAT decisions.
Flexible working: the new day-one right
Since 6 April 2024, employees have had the right to request flexible working from day one of employment, with up to two requests per year, and employers must respond within two months giving one of eight statutory grounds for refusal. The Employment Rights Bill currently progressing through Parliament in 2026 proposes to strengthen this further by requiring employers to show that any refusal is "reasonable."
For returning mothers, the flexible-working request is often the single most important conversation. A solicitor can help frame the request to maximise the chance of acceptance, identify whether refusal would amount to indirect sex discrimination, and prepare an appeal if the request is turned down.
Enforcement: tribunal claims, ACAS, and the Real Cost
UK employment tribunals dealt with around 4,200 pregnancy and maternity discrimination claims in 2024-25, according to Ministry of Justice statistics — a fraction of the 54,000 women estimated to be affected each year. The gap reflects how difficult, slow, and uncertain the process can feel without legal support.
A claim must be lodged within three months less one day of the discriminatory act, with mandatory ACAS Early Conciliation before tribunal. Compensation for discrimination is uncapped, and tribunals can also award injury-to-feelings damages on the Vento bands (currently £1,200 to £58,700). Specialist solicitors typically advise on whether the case is strong enough to pursue, whether to negotiate a settlement agreement (often the faster route), and what the realistic financial range looks like.
What to do if Gilead feels uncomfortably close
For a UK woman who watches The Testaments and recognises a pattern at her own workplace, an employment solicitor will usually recommend the following sequence:
- Document everything contemporaneously: emails, meeting agendas, performance reviews, dates of any change in treatment.
- Raise a written grievance, even if the response is unsatisfactory — this creates the procedural record the tribunal will expect to see.
- Contact ACAS for Early Conciliation within the three-month limitation window.
- Engage a solicitor with an Employment Lawyers Association membership for an initial assessment; most offer a free 30-minute scoping call, and many work on a conditional-fee basis for strong cases.
Fiction and law
The Testaments is dystopian fiction. UK employment law in 2026 is a working, if imperfect, framework that gives every pregnant employee and new mother a defined set of rights enforceable in a real tribunal. The gap between the two is wider than the show suggests — but it only stays wide for women who know the rights exist and can find a solicitor who litigates them every week.
This article provides general information on UK employment law and is not a substitute for legal advice tailored to specific circumstances.
