How much statutory redundancy pay will you get?
Last verified: 12 October 2026 by LexSpeakAI Editorial. Sources: Employment Rights Act 1996, Part XI; S.I. 2026/310.
You need at least two years’ continuous employment. For each complete year, counting back up to twenty years, you get half a week’s pay for years when you were under 22, one week’s pay for years at 22 to 40, and one and a half weeks’ pay for years at 41 or over. Where your relevant date is on or after 6 April 2026, a week’s pay is capped at £751, so the most anyone can get is £22,530.
The band depends on your age during each year, not your age when you leave. Count back from your relevant date year by year and give each year the band for the age you were then. Using one and a half weeks for every year just because you are over 41 now usually overstates the payment.
Does this apply to you?
- You are an employee being dismissed because of redundancy, and you will have at least two years’ continuous employment at the relevant date.
- You have less than two years. There is no statutory redundancy payment, though your contract may give one.
- Your employer has an enhanced scheme. Statutory pay is the floor. A contractual scheme can pay more, and you claim that under your contract.
This covers employment in England and Wales.
What the law says
Part XI of the Employment Rights Act 1996 gives a statutory redundancy payment to an employee dismissed because of redundancy with at least two years’ continuous employment at the relevant date (s.155). Redundancy has a legal meaning: broadly, the business or workplace is closing, or the need for employees to do work of a particular kind has ceased or reduced.
The calculation
For each complete year of continuous service, counted back from the relevant date and up to a maximum of twenty years, apply the band for your age during that year (s.162):
- under 22: half a week’s pay;
- 22 to 40: one week’s pay;
- 41 or over: one and a half weeks’ pay.
A week’s pay is your actual gross weekly pay, capped at £751 where the relevant date is on or after 6 April 2026 (S.I. 2026/310). If you earn less than the cap, your actual pay is used. The limits are updated every April, so an earlier date uses an earlier figure, and a date on or after 6 April 2027 needs the figure for that year.
A quick test for a single band: take the years being counted away from your age at the relevant date. If the answer is 41 or more, every counted year was worked at 41 or over.
The relevant date
Where you were given notice, it is the date the notice expires. Where you weren’t, it is the date the dismissal took effect (s.145). If your employer gave you less than the statutory minimum notice, the later date that notice would have ended is used for the calculation and for the two-year qualifying period, but not for the time limit. Where those two dates fall either side of 6 April, which year’s cap applies needs checking.
Suitable alternative employment
If you unreasonably turn down an offer of suitable alternative employment, you lose the statutory payment. Whether the job is suitable is judged objectively: the work, pay, status, location and hours. Whether your refusal was reasonable is judged on your own circumstances. If the new role is different, you get a four-week trial period, longer by written agreement for retraining, without losing the payment if it doesn’t work out.
If your employer won’t pay, or can’t
Your employer must give you a written statement showing how the payment was calculated. If it doesn’t pay, the claim goes to the employment tribunal. If your employer is insolvent, you can claim from the National Insurance Fund through the Redundancy Payments Service.
Worked examples
| Situation | Working | Statutory payment |
|---|---|---|
| Aged 55, 10 complete years, all at 41 or over, pay above the cap | 10 × 1.5 × £751 | £11,265 |
| Aged 60, 10 complete years | 60 − 10 = 50, so one band: 10 × 1.5 weeks | 15 weeks’ pay |
| Aged 52, 24 years’ service, £900 a week | Most recent 20 years count (ages 32 to 51): 11 × 1.5 + 9 × 1 = 25.5 weeks, at the £751 cap | £19,150.50 |
| Maximum | 20 years, all at 41 or over (aged 61 or more), × 1.5 × £751 | £22,530 |
The third example shows why long service doesn’t automatically mean the maximum. Twenty years of service still includes years worked under 41.
Key dates and deadlines
Within six months beginning with the relevant date, one of these has to happen: you receive the payment, you make a written claim to your employer, you present a redundancy payment claim to the tribunal, or you present an unfair dismissal claim (s.164). Because the relevant date is day one, the period ends the day before the same date six months later. For example, a relevant date of 24 April 2026 means a deadline of 23 October 2026. The tribunal can allow a further six months where that is just and equitable, but that is its discretion, not something to count on.
Related rights when you are made redundant
With two years’ service by the end of your notice, you can take reasonable paid time off during your notice to look for work or arrange training. The pay is limited to 40 per cent of a week’s pay over the notice period. Where 20 or more redundancies are proposed at one establishment within 90 days, your employer also has to consult representatives collectively, and failing to can lead to a protective award, which is separate from redundancy pay. Whether the redundancy was handled fairly is a separate question again, under the law on unfair dismissal.
What people in this situation usually do next
Most people check their continuous service, their age in each year, and their gross weekly pay, then compare the figure with the written statement from their employer. Where the payment is missing or looks wrong, many put a written claim to the employer, which also protects the six-month time limit. Where the employer has an enhanced scheme, they check that too, because it can pay more than the statutory figure.
A formal written claim to your employer for your statutory redundancy payment, worked out from your dates, age and pay. A written claim to your employer is one of the steps that protects the six-month time limit. If you also want the law on fair selection and your options set out in full, that is LexSpeak Counsel™ (£149).
Every redundancy turns on its own dates and pay. Lex can go through yours with you, in plain English, and set up LexSpeak Agent™ for you on the call if it fits.
Common questions
I’m over 41. Do I get one and a half weeks’ pay for every year?
Only if every counted year was worked at 41 or over. The band follows your age during each year, not your age now. Take the years being counted away from your age at the relevant date: if the answer is under 41, some years count at one week, or half a week, instead.
What is the most statutory redundancy pay I can get?
£22,530, where the relevant date is on or after 6 April 2026. That needs twenty counted years, all worked at 41 or over, with pay at or above the £751 cap, so in practice you would be 61 or older.
I have less than two years’ service. Do I get anything?
Not a statutory redundancy payment, which needs two years’ continuous employment. Your contract or a company scheme may still give you something, and you are still owed notice.
How long do I have to claim?
Six months beginning with the relevant date, usually the date your notice ends. Within that time you need to have been paid, or have made a written claim to your employer, or have presented a claim to the tribunal. The period ends the day before the same date six months later.
My employer offered me another job. Do I have to take it?
No, but if the job is suitable and you unreasonably turn it down, you lose the statutory payment. If the role is different, you can try it for four weeks without losing the payment if it turns out not to be suitable.
Legal information for England and Wales, not legal advice. LexSpeakAI® is not a law firm.