Redundancy: what are my rights?

What is redundancy?

Being made redundant is when you lose your job because the work you do is no longer required. Redundancy is different from other types of dismissal.

Being made redundant is, for most people, completely overwhelming. How will I pay my bills? Where will I get another job? How will I support my family? 

When an employer makes someone redundant, they must act fairly and follow a process. Otherwise, that redundancy may be unlawful. So let’s check your rights; if your employer hasn’t acted properly, you may have a claim against them.

Why does redundancy happen?

A person's job can be made redundant because:

• all, or part, of an organisation is closing, becoming smaller or relocating (often to reduce costs)
• a business is re-structuring, resulting in changes to the roles or the number of people needed
• technology has replaced a particular function. 

The reason(s) for redundancy must be genuine. An employer should not falsely present redundancy as a way to dismiss someone they no longer want to work with. 

What does a fair redundancy look like?

A fair redundancy is a multi-step process.

• An employer must identify and demonstrate a genuine business need for job losses. They should consider alternatives such as reducing hours, job sharing or asking people to volunteer to end their employment (voluntary redundancy).
• Before making anyone redundant, an employer should talk to everyone who may be affected.
• If they intend to make more than 20 redundancies at one establishment in a 90 day period, an employer must also hold something called a collective (or group) consultation.
• An employer must use objective criteria to select which roles are being made redundant.
• Those who have been selected for redundancy should receive a written statement explaining why job losses are necessary, selection criteria, notice period, date of termination of employment and details about redundancy pay and other benefits.
• Employees may be entitled to a period of notice. 
• Employees may be entitled to redundancy pay. 

Let’s have a look at these steps in more detail.

Consultation: do I get a say?

Your employer must consult you before they make your role redundant. This consultation should be meaningful; you should be given the opportunity to suggest alternatives, raise concerns and ask questions. You should be allowed time to explain why you think your role is valuable and what sets you apart from others. Your employer doesn’t have to agree with you but they should listen and consider your views. You’re entitled to bring a trade union representative, friend or colleague to the meeting.

If your employer is proposing to make more than 20 people redundant in a 90 day period, they must also hold a collective consultation. This is where your employer meets staff representatives and trade union members to explain the reason(s) for the proposed job losses, the roles at risk and how they will decide who to let go. You’re entitled to attend this meeting. Group consultation must begin at least 30 days before anyone’s employment is terminated (45 days if 100 or more redundancies are proposed). 

If your employer didn’t meet their responsibility to hold a group consultation, you might be entitled to a Protective Award.

Selection: why was I chosen?

An employer should identify roles which are no longer needed, not people. Then, they must use objective principles to determine which of the staff who perform that role will be selected. 

Being ‘objective’ means your employer should consider things like:

• performance
• capability
• attendance
• disciplinary records and 
• length of service (although, if this is the only criterion, that could be age discrimination). 

You should never suffer any type of dismissal (including redundancy) because you:

• have a protected characteristic
• are a member of a trade union
• have exercised your right to maternity, paternity, adoption or shared parental leave
• work part-time hours or have a fixed term contract
• have asked for your rights at work (e.g. the National Minimum Wage)
• have spoken up about wrongdoing at work (known as whistleblowing).

These are ‘automatically unfair’ reasons for dismissal. It can be harder for an employer to defend an action for automatically unfair dismissal.   

The law provides special protection for an employee who is pregnant or on / returning from maternity, adoption, shared parental or neonatal care leave. These employees have the right to be offered a suitable alternative role (if one exists) giving them a priority status over other employees. It’s not unlawful to make someone in this position redundant, but an employer has to re-deploy that person, if it’s possible. 

Notice periods: when will it happen?

The time between being told (in writing) that you’re being made redundant and the date your employment contract ends is called a redundancy notice period. The law sets out minimum notice periods depending on length of service: 

• less than one month: no notice required
• between 1 month and 2 years: 1 week
• between 2 and 12 years: 1 week for every year of service
• over 12 years: 12 weeks.

Check your employment contract, it may set a longer redundancy notice period, which your employer must observe. 

Your employer can choose to make a payment in lieu of notice; you’ll get paid for the notice period but you won’t have to work it. 

Redundancy pay: how much will I get? 

If you’ve worked for your employer for more than 2 years, you’re entitled to a statutory redundancy payment. The amount you receive depends on your age and length of service:

• half a week’s pay for every year of service where you were under 22
• a week’s pay for every year of service where you were between 22 and 40
• one and a half week’s pay for every year of service over 40.

A week’s pay is capped at a maximum amount set by law (£719 from 6 April 2025). Length of service is capped at 20 years. So, the maximum statutory redundancy payment is £21,570 (for a redundancy made after 6 April 2025).

Again, check your contract; your employer may have to pay more than the minimum set by law.  

If your employer is insolvent (meaning they can no longer pay their debts) and they owe you money, you may be able to get it through the Redundancy Payment Service.

Challenging your redundancy

Ask yourself:

• Did your employer have to cut jobs?
• Did your employer try to find you an alternative job?
• Were you chosen for an ‘automatically unfair’ reason?
• Did your employer follow the correct procedure?
• Did your employer dismiss you and then hire someone else?
• Were you given proper notice?

If you think you’ve been treated unfairly, here’s what to do.

Appeal to your employer

Speak to your employer. Explain why you’ve been treated unfairly. It’s a good idea to put something in writing. Check staff handbooks / intranet; these may set out an appeal procedure which you should use. 

Early conciliation

If you’re unhappy with the outcome, the next step is a mediation process called early conciliation. ACAS will act as a mediator to resolve disputes between you and your employer. You have to complete early conciliation before you can raise a claim at an Employment Tribunal. Learn more about early conciliation.

Unfair dismissal

The next step is to raise a claim for unfair dismissal at an Employment Tribunal. Usually, you can only claim unfair dismissal if you’ve been employed for 2 years (at the time of redundancy) but that doesn’t apply if you were selected for an ‘automatically unfair’ reason. 

Learn more about raising a claim for unfair dismissal.

What will I get if I win?

There are two types of financial award for a successful unfair dismissal claim: a basic award and a compensatory award. The Tribunal can also order your employer to give you your job back, or offer you a new position. 

Raising a claim is time critical, so it’s best not to delay acting. We can help you through the process - find out more about Legal coaching.