Redundancy pay and age discrimination

[ch 11: page 442]

It is not age discrimination to provide an enhanced redundancy payment scheme linked to age and length of service, provided it mirrors the statutory scheme for redundancy pay.

A redundancy scheme will not be age discriminatory if it amends the statutory scheme in any of the following ways:

• by exceeding (or removing altogether) the statutory cap on a week’s pay;

• by multiplying the amount for each age band; or

• by multiplying the total amount by a figure of more than one.

(Paragraph 13, Schedule 9, EA 10)

An employer can devise its own redundancy scheme that is not based on the statutory scheme, as long as they can justify the scheme objectively as a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim if it is challenged as age discriminatory.