Redundancy rights
[ch 2: pages 38-39]Employees dismissed for redundancy after working for two full years are entitled to a statutory redundancy payment based on a statutory formula linked to age and length of service and a capped “week’s pay” (£538: April 2020). Employees will lose their right if they unreasonably refuse an offer of suitable alternative employment. There is a strict trial period (four calendar weeks) to try out the alternative role. Staying in a new role beyond the trial period is likely to mean the statutory redundancy payment is lost.
These are minimum redundancy rights. Employers can and often do improve on all aspects of this scheme, especially in workplaces where unions are recognised, for example by paying more generous redundancy pay, or agreeing to a longer period to try out alternative roles.
Like all other contractual rights, contractual redundancy rights can only be changed by agreement, through the union where one is recognised (see Chapter 1). Some large employers are using the crisis to attack generous contractual redundancy terms, just at the point when they are considering making compulsory redundancies.
Contractual redundancy rights transfer to the new employer on a TUPE transfer.
LRD has published a separate guide to Redundancy Law (https://www.lrdpublications.org.uk/publications.php?pub=BK&iss=1998).