Redundancy Is a Legal Process

In the UK, redundancy is not simply a matter of your employer deciding they no longer need your role and telling you to leave. It is a legal process with specific requirements — around consultation, selection, notice, and pay — that your employer must follow. Understanding those requirements is the starting point for protecting your position.

What Counts as Redundancy?

A genuine redundancy situation exists when your employer needs fewer employees to do a particular kind of work — because the business is closing, a particular workplace is closing, or the need for employees to do a particular kind of work has diminished or ceased. If your role is being replaced by someone doing essentially the same job, that is not a genuine redundancy.

The Consultation Requirement

Your employer must consult with you before making you redundant. For individual redundancies, there is no statutory minimum consultation period, but the consultation must be meaningful — not just a formality. For collective redundancies (20 or more employees at one establishment within 90 days), there are statutory minimum consultation periods of 30 or 45 days depending on the number affected.

Selection Criteria

If your employer is selecting from a pool of employees, the selection criteria must be fair, objective, and consistently applied. Criteria based on attendance, performance, skills, and experience are generally acceptable. Criteria that are subjective, or that disproportionately affect employees with protected characteristics, may be challenged.

Statutory Redundancy Pay

You're entitled to statutory redundancy pay if you've been employed for at least two years. The amount is calculated based on your age, weekly pay (capped at £643 in 2026), and length of service. Your employer may offer enhanced redundancy pay above the statutory minimum — and this is negotiable.

If the Process Was Unfair

If your employer failed to consult properly, applied selection criteria unfairly, or the redundancy was not genuine, you may have grounds for an unfair dismissal claim at an employment tribunal. The time limit for bringing a claim is three months minus one day from your dismissal date.

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