Q. When will employees be entitled to a redundancy payment?
A. In order to qualify for a redundancy payment, an employee will have to have been dismissed for the reason of redundancy, namely that the employer:

a) ceases or intends to cease carrying on the business for the purposes of which the employee was employed by it (a business closure);
b) ceasing or intending to cease to carry on that business in the place where the employee was so employed (workplace closure);
c) having a reduced requirement for employees to carry out work of a particular kind or to carry out work of a particular kind at the place where the employee was employed to work (a reduced requirement for employees).

Should one fit within a, b or c above they will then have to have the qualifying requirement of two years continuous employment as at the date of redundancy dismissal.

Prior to the 1 October 2006 any period of continuous employment before the employee's 18th birthday did not count when calculating qualifying service. However, this changed when the age discrimination legislation came into place on October 2006.

If you would expert advice regarding employment law, please send us a message using our enquiry form >>>