Notice

[ch 8: pages 65-66]

As well as redundancy pay, employees dismissed because of redundancy are entitled to full statutory notice, or their contractual entitlement to notice, whichever is longer.

An employee is entitled to notice of at least:

• one week if their length of service is between one month and two years; or

• one week for each year if they have between two and 12 years’ service, up to a maximum of:

• 12 weeks if they have at least 12 years’ service.

(See section 86 ERA 96)

Many employers provide contractual notice that is more than the statutory minimum and this should be set out in the contract of employment or other document. If a longer period of notice is negotiated through a collective agreement, it must be incorporated into the employee’s individual contract of employment to be enforceable. In Griffiths v Buckinghamshire County Council [1994] ICR 265, the High Court held that a statement in a collective agreement that individuals should be given the maximum possible redundancy notice (which should not be less than a year) was a “recommendation” not a contractual entitlement.