Redundancy Entitlement in UK. Redundancy Payment Entitlements

Employment law allows an employee who has been temporarily laid-off to claim their redundancy entitlement in certain circumstances. In order to claim their redundancy entitlement, the employee must have been laid-off for more than four weeks in a row, or for more than six non-consecutive weeks in a 13 week period. In addition, the employee must have been temporarily laid-off without pay, or they must have been put on a short-time working earning less than half their normal week’s wage.The process for claiming a redundancy entitlement that an employee must follow is complex and subject to strict time requirements. It is advisable to seek legal advice from an employment law expert in order to ensure their claim is made correctly. If an employee wishes to be made redundant and has been laid-off for the requisite amount of time, they must notify their employer of their intention in writing.

Redundancy Entitlemens

The employee must notify their employer in writing within four weeks of the last non-working day in the four or six week period. The employer has seven days from the receipt of the employee’s written claim to respond. If they wish to reject the claim for redundancy, they must send a counter-notice stating that normal work is likely to resume within four weeks and will continue for at least thirteen consecutive weeks. If the employer sends a counter-notice within seven days of receipt of the employee request, the employee will not be able to claim redundancy. If the employer fails to respond within seven days, the employee can assume that they have accepted the claim.

Voluntary Redundancy Entitlement

If the employer accepts the employee’s claim, the employee must give their employer one week’s notice of their resignation, or the notice period stipulated in the employee’s contract of employment. The timing of the notice is crucial. If an employer fails to respond within the seven days, the employee has three weeks from the end of the seven day period to give notice of their resignation. If the employer responds with a counter-claim but subsequently withdraws it, the employee has three weeks form the withdrawal to give notice of their resignation.

If the employer issues a counter-claim, the employee can go before an Employment Tribunal to have their claim for redundancy enforced. An employee is advised to seek legal advice from an employment solicitor before they follow this route.