Redundancy notice periods explained

The minimum notice by length of service and what you should be paid.

The short answer

If you are made redundant, your employer must give you at least a minimum notice period, based on how long you have worked there. It is one week for 1 to 2 years of service, one week per year from 2 to 12 years, and 12 weeks for 12 years or more. Your contract can give you longer, but never shorter.

The statutory minimum

1 to 2 years of service: at least one week.
2 to 12 years: one week for each year, so five years means five weeks.
12 years or more: 12 weeks.

Notice pay

You are paid during your notice period, normally at the same rate as usual.
If you are paid for notice, the pay is based on your average weekly earnings over the 12 weeks before notice starts.
Your employer may end your job at once and pay you in lieu of notice, but only if your contract allows it. The payment should cover all the basic pay you would have earned, and extra benefits such as pension contributions if they are in your contract.

Notice is separate from redundancy pay

Statutory redundancy pay is a different payment, based on your age, weekly pay and years of service. See redundancy pay explained and the redundancy pay calculator.
Tax and National Insurance work differently for different parts of a payoff, so check your payslip.
If you are not sure whether your employer is following the rules, free advice is available from Acas.

Where to learn more

This guide is for information only and is not tax, benefits or financial advice. Rules and amounts can change, so check the official pages before you rely on them.