Redundancy Rights Guide
Being made redundant is stressful, but you have important legal rights that protect you. This guide covers everything from your notice period and redundancy pay to what benefits you can claim and how to challenge an unfair decision.
Am I Actually Being Made Redundant?
Redundancy is a specific legal situation. It applies when your employer needs fewer people to do your type of work, closes the business, or closes the location where you work. It is not a fair reason to dismiss you for performance issues, conduct, or any other personal reason — those require a separate disciplinary process.
Your Notice Period
You are entitled to a minimum statutory notice period based on your length of service. Your contract may give you more — always check.
| Length of service | Minimum statutory notice |
|---|---|
| 1 month – 2 years | 1 week |
| 2 – 12 years | 1 week per year of service |
| 12+ years | 12 weeks (maximum statutory) |
Your employer may offer payment in lieu of notice (PILON) instead — a lump sum covering your notice period. This is common and entirely legal.
Statutory Redundancy Pay
You qualify if you've worked for your employer for 2 or more continuous years. The amount depends on your age, weekly pay, and years of service:
| Your age during each year of service | Amount per year |
|---|---|
| Under 22 | Half a week's pay |
| 22 – 40 | One week's pay |
| 41 or over | One and a half week's pay |
Redundancy pay up to £30,000 is tax-free. Anything above that is taxed as normal income.
The Consultation Process
Your employer must consult with you before finalising redundancy. If 20 or more people are being made redundant at the same time, there are additional collective consultation rules and minimum timescales (30–45 days).
For individual redundancy, consultation should still happen — your employer must:
- Warn you that redundancy is being considered
- Hold a genuine consultation meeting (not just a formality)
- Consider alternatives to redundancy (e.g. reduced hours, redeployment)
- Give you the right to be accompanied by a colleague or trade union rep
Fair Selection
If your employer is selecting people from a group, the selection criteria must be fair, objective, and consistently applied. Criteria like performance, attendance (excluding disability-related absence), and skills are generally acceptable. Selecting someone because of age, pregnancy, disability, race, or other protected characteristics is automatically unfair dismissal.
What to Do in Your First Week
If You Think the Redundancy Is Unfair
You have the right to appeal any redundancy decision. If the appeal fails, you can make a claim to an Employment Tribunal — but you must do this within 3 months minus 1 day of your last day of employment. Use the Acas Early Conciliation service first (it's free and required before a tribunal claim).