What Employers Don’t Always Tell You About Redundancy

If you’ve worked for an employer for at least two years, you’re entitled to statutory redundancy pay. The calculation is based on your age, length of service, and capped weekly pay, currently £700 per week.

Employers often don’t emphasise that you can refuse unsuitable alternative roles without losing your pay.

You can calculate your statutory redundancy pay using the UK Government website.

Everyone is entitled to notice before dismissal, starting at one (1) week if you’ve worked a month, increasing by a week per year of service up to a maximum of 12 weeks.

Employers may quietly offer pay in lieu of notice, often downplayed, but you have a right to this and even to take paid time off to job search during this period.

Some employers may frame dismissals as redundancy when underlying motives differ.

A genuine redundancy involves:

✅ The role no longer being needed

✅ Business closure, reorganisation, or relocation

✅ Reduced demand or automation, not because of who you are

Red flags include:

❌ Your role being refilled immediately after dismissal

❌ Discrimination based on pregnancy, health & safety complaints, or union membership

Employers must consult you before redundancy, explaining why roles are at risk, the number affected, how employees were selected, and any alternatives like voluntary redundancy or redeployment.

For collective redundancies (20 or more roles within 90 days), formal consultation timelines apply:

• At least 30 days notice for 20–99 redundancies
• At least 45 days notice for 100+

Employers must use fair, objective criteria to choose who is made redundant. Using absence, protected characteristics, or asking for rights as criteria is legally problematic.

Selection based on any protected characteristic (e.g. gender, pregnancy, disability) may qualify as unfair dismissal or discrimination.

Employers have a duty to offer suitable alternative roles within the organisation, even if you’re on maternity leave or returners exploring flexible options.

If you unreasonably refuse a suitable alternative, redundancy pay may be forfeited, but if the offer arrives late or isn’t genuinely suitable, you have grounds to dispute it.

Find out if you can be rehired after redundancy.

Employers may incentivise silence through settlement agreements (also known as compromise or COT3 agreements). These often include confidentiality clauses and require independent legal advice to be valid.

Make sure you fully understand your rights, even if you’re offered a financial sum to waive claims.

Keep an eye on new rules around “fire and rehire” and the strengthening of collective redundancy consultation laws. These may offer additional protection where large-scale redundancies are proposed.