Facing Redundancy? Here’s What Your Employer Might Not Tell You

Being told that your job is “at risk” can be frightening. You may be worried about your income, unsure whether the decision has already been made, and confused about what your employer is legally required to do.

Redundancy is also an area where employees can lose money or miss opportunities to challenge an unfair decision simply because they do not understand the process.

This guide explains the key rights you need to know, including redundancy pay, consultation, alternative employment and what happens if your employer becomes insolvent.

Redundancy Is a Legal Form of Dismissal

Redundancy is not simply another term for losing your job.

A genuine redundancy situation can arise when:

your employer closes the business;
the workplace where you are employed closes;
your employer needs fewer employees to carry out a particular type of work; or
your role is no longer required because of restructuring, technology or changes in how the work is organised.

Redundancy should not be used as a substitute for dealing with performance, conduct or personal disagreements.

If your employer dismisses you and simply replaces you with someone else doing substantially the same job, this may cast doubt on whether there was a genuine redundancy situation. However, the full circumstances matter. For example, an employer could genuinely reduce a team from five employees to three while keeping or recruiting people to perform the remaining work.

Even where there is a genuine need to reduce jobs, your employer must still follow a fair process.

If you believe redundancy is bering used to disguise another reason for dismissal, read our guide:

Can My Employer Sack Me Without Warning:

https://blog.workwisevoice.co.uk/2026/07/can-my-employer-sack-me-without-warning.html

Being “At Risk” Does Not Mean You Have Already Been Made Redundant

An at-risk letter should normally mark the beginning of consultation—not the end of the decision-making process.

Your employer should explain:

why redundancies are being considered;
which roles are at risk;
how many jobs may be affected;
how employees will be selected;
what consultation will take place; and
whether alternatives to redundancy are available.

Consultation must be genuine and meaningful. Your employer should listen to your questions, consider your suggestions and remain open to alternatives before making a final decision.

If the outcome has already been decided before consultation begins, that may indicate the process was not genuine.

Do You Qualify for Statutory Redundancy Pay?

You will normally qualify for statutory redundancy pay if you:

are legally classed as an employee;
have worked continuously for your employer for at least two years;
are dismissed because of redundancy; and
have not unreasonably refused an offer of suitable alternative employment.

Your employment contract or workplace redundancy scheme may give you more than the statutory minimum. This is sometimes called an enhanced redundancy payment.

How Statutory Redundancy Pay Is Calculated

Statutory redundancy pay is based on your age, complete years of continuous service and weekly pay.

For each complete year of service, you receive:

Your age during that year	Statutory entitlement
Under 22	Half a week’s pay
Aged 22 to 40	One week’s pay
Aged 41 or over	One and a half weeks’ pay

Only the most recent 20 years of employment can be counted.

For redundancies taking effect on or after 6 April 2026, weekly pay is capped at £751. The maximum statutory redundancy payment is therefore £22,530.

Your age is considered separately for each complete year of service. You do not simply apply your current age to every year you have worked.

Is Redundancy Pay Tax-Free?

Statutory redundancy pay is normally tax-free.

Certain additional termination payments may also be paid tax-free, provided the total qualifying amount does not exceed £30,000.

However, not everything paid when you leave employment falls within that exemption. The following payments are generally taxed in the usual way:

wages;
holiday pay;
bonuses and commission;
payment for work already completed; and
notice pay or payment in lieu of notice.

Ask your employer for a written breakdown showing how every part of your final payment has been calculated.

Your Employer Must Consult You

Even where fewer than 20 redundancies are proposed, your employer should carry out genuine individual consultation before making a final decision.

There is no fixed statutory minimum consultation period for fewer than 20 proposed redundancies. However, your employer should give you enough information and time to respond properly.

Consultation should cover matters such as:

why your role is at risk;
ways redundancy might be avoided;
the proposed selection pool;
the selection criteria and your scores;
whether your information is accurate;
suitable alternative vacancies; and
any suggestions or objections you raise.

A failure to carry out genuine and meaningful consultation could contribute to a finding that the dismissal was unfair.

The Selection Process Must Be Fair

Where an employer is selecting some employees from a group, it should normally identify an appropriate selection pool and use fair, objective criteria.

Possible criteria may include:

relevant skills and qualifications;
performance;
disciplinary records;
attendance; and
experience.

The criteria should be measurable, applied consistently and supported by evidence.

Selection must not be based on a discriminatory or automatically unfair reason. For example, an employee should not be selected because of pregnancy, maternity leave, disability, trade union activity, part-time status, whistleblowing or asserting certain employment rights.

You should ask for:

the selection criteria;
your individual scores;
the evidence used to calculate them;
information showing how the criteria were applied; and
an explanation of the selection pool.

Your employer may limit information about other employees to protect their personal data, but it should still provide enough information for you to understand and challenge your own assessment.

Collective Redundancy Consultation

Additional legal duties apply when an employer proposes to dismiss 20 or more employees as redundant at one establishment within a 90-day period.

The employer must consult recognised trade union representatives or properly elected employee representatives.

Collective consultation must begin:

at least 30 days before the first dismissal takes effect where 20 to 99 redundancies are proposed; or
at least 45 days beforehand where 100 or more redundancies are proposed.

Individual consultation should normally still take place alongside the collective process.

For relevant dismissals taking effect on or after 6 April 2026, an employment tribunal can make a protective award of up to 180 days’ pay per affected employee where an employer breaches its collective consultation duties. The previous maximum was 90 days’ pay.

The maximum award is not automatic. A tribunal will decide what amount is just and equitable based on the seriousness of the breach. You do not need two years’ service to qualify for a protective award.

Can You Take Someone to a Redundancy Meeting?

There is not normally an automatic statutory right to be accompanied at an ordinary redundancy consultation meeting in the same way as there is at certain disciplinary and grievance hearings.

However, you can ask to bring:

a trade union representative;
a workplace colleague; or
another appropriate companion where your employer agrees.

ACAS advises employers to consider allowing employees to be accompanied during individual consultation. Your employment contract, redundancy policy or collective agreement may also give you a specific right to representation.

Your Employer Must Consider Alternative Employment

Your employer should look for ways to avoid dismissing you, including identifying suitable alternative vacancies within the organisation.

Whether another role is suitable will depend on factors such as:

the type of work;
your skills and experience;
pay and benefits;
working hours;
status and responsibilities;
location;
working environment; and
your personal circumstances.

An offer of suitable alternative employment should normally be made before your existing contract ends, put in writing and start no later than four weeks after your current role finishes.

You are usually entitled to a four-week trial period in an alternative role. A longer trial may be agreed where retraining is required.

Be careful about refusing an offer. If you unreasonably refuse suitable alternative employment, you may lose your right to statutory redundancy pay. However, a role that appears suitable to your employer may not necessarily be reasonable for you to accept.

Extra Protection During Pregnancy and Family Leave

Pregnant employees and certain new parents have additional protection when suitable alternative vacancies are available.

The protected groups include eligible employees who are:

pregnant;
taking maternity leave;
taking adoption leave;
taking shared parental leave;
taking neonatal care leave; or
taking bereaved partner’s paternity leave.

Where the legal protection applies, the employee must be offered a suitable alternative vacancy as a priority. They should not simply be asked to compete for it against employees who do not have the same protection.

For pregnancy, protection begins when the employee tells the employer about the pregnancy. Depending on the type of leave taken, the protected period can continue for up to 18 months after the child’s birth or adoption placement.

The protection does not necessarily prevent the employee’s existing role from being placed in a fair selection process. It gives the employee priority when a suitable alternative vacancy exists.

You Should Be Allowed to Appeal

If you believe you were selected unfairly or that there was a problem with the redundancy process, your employer should offer you an opportunity to appeal.

Possible grounds of appeal include:

an unfair selection pool;
inaccurate scoring;
discriminatory criteria;
a failure to consult properly;
a suitable alternative role not being considered;
incorrect information being used; or
redundancy being used to disguise another reason for dismissal.

Submit your appeal in writing as soon as possible. Follow any deadline in your employer’s redundancy policy or decision letter.

You can also ask for the appeal to be handled by someone who was not involved in the original decision and request permission to bring a trade union representative or colleague to the meeting.

If the Redundancy process has also involved bullying, unfair pressure, exclusion or retaliation, read:

Bullying & Harassement at Work: What to Do Before it Gets Worse. https://blog.workwisevoice.co.uk/2026/08/bullying-harassment-at-work-what-to-do.html

You Are Also Entitled to Notice

Redundancy does not remove your right to notice.

Your statutory minimum notice is normally:

at least one week if you have worked between one month and two years;
one week for each complete year of employment if you have worked between two and 12 years; or
12 weeks if you have worked for 12 years or more.

Your contract may provide a longer notice period.

Your employer may require you to work your notice, place you on garden leave or make a payment in lieu of notice where the contract allows it. Notice pay is normally taxable.

Time Off to Look for Work

Employees who will have at least two years’ continuous service by the end of their notice period are entitled to a reasonable amount of time off during working hours to look for another job or arrange training.

The statutory right to paid time off is limited. Your employer only has to pay up to two-fifths of one normal working week, even where more time off is permitted.

Your employer may offer better terms under its own policy.

What Happens if Your Employer Goes Bust?

If your employer becomes formally insolvent and cannot pay what you are owed, you may be able to claim from the government’s Redundancy Payments Service.

Depending on your circumstances, you may be able to claim:

statutory redundancy pay;
up to eight weeks of unpaid wages;
up to six weeks of holiday pay;
certain unpaid pension contributions; and
statutory notice pay.

Payments are subject to legal conditions and statutory caps. The scheme may not cover everything your employer owes under your contract.

You will normally need a CN case-reference number from the insolvency practitioner or official receiver.

You must apply for redundancy pay, unpaid wages and holiday pay within six months of being dismissed—not six months from the date the company became insolvent.

You request statutory notice pay as part of the initial application, but the government will normally contact you later to tell you when the separate notice-pay application can be completed.

Do Not Miss Employment Tribunal Deadlines

Internal consultation or an appeal does not automatically extend the time allowed to begin an employment tribunal claim.

For many claims connected with dismissal or discrimination, the normal deadline is three months less one day from the relevant dismissal or discriminatory act. Different rules can apply to claims for statutory redundancy pay and protective awards.

Before making most employment tribunal claims, you must notify ACAS and begin Early Conciliation. The time spent in Early Conciliation can affect the final tribunal deadline.

Do not wait until an internal appeal has finished before checking your legal time limit.

Questions to Ask During Consultation

Ask your employer:

What is the genuine business reason for the proposed redundancy?
Has a final decision already been made?
Which roles are included in the selection pool?
Why was that selection pool chosen?
What selection criteria are being used?
Can I see my scores and the evidence supporting them?
What alternatives to redundancy have been considered?
Are there any current or expected vacancies?
Is an enhanced redundancy scheme available?
What is the appeal process and deadline?
What notice, holiday pay and other final payments will I receive?
When will I receive the calculations in writing?

Keep copies of letters, emails, consultation notes, vacancy lists, scoring documents and anything you submit to your employer.

Get the Full Picture

Facing Redundancy at Work — Free Guide

Understand the essentials, including:

whether the redundancy appears genuine;
the consultation process;
statutory redundancy pay;
suitable alternative employment;
notice rights; and
what to do if your employer becomes insolvent.

Get the free guide here; https://payhip.com/b/z9Ucu

Facing Redundancy at Work — Full Guide — £9.99

The complete guide includes:

worked redundancy-pay examples;
how to examine your selection pool and scores;
ways to challenge an unfair selection;
questions to ask during consultation;
suitable-alternative-employment guidance;
pregnancy and family-leave protections;
collective consultation and protective awards;
Redundancy Payments Service claim guidance;
template letters for important stages; and
employment tribunal and ACAS Early Conciliation time limits.

Get the guide here; https://payhip.com/b/OyAH8

Do not assume that your employer has calculated everything correctly. Check the figures, ask questions and keep written records before accepting the outcome.

This article provides general information about redundancy law in England, Scotland and Wales as at August 2026. It does not cover Northern Ireland, where different rules and statutory limits apply. It is not legal advice and cannot assess the individual facts of your case. Where your situation is complicated or legal deadlines may be approaching, consider contacting ACAS, your trade union, an employment adviser or a solicitor.

Search This Blog

Workwisevoice