Made redundant in 2026: your statutory rights and what to do this week

6 min read Article Updated 2026-06-05

If you have just been told your job is at risk, the first thing to know is that your rights do not depend on how senior you are. They depend mostly on how long you have worked there. Statutory redundancy pay only starts after two years with the same employer, which most people under 25 in a first graduate role will not yet have. But that payment is only one of your rights, and the others, notice, consultation, holiday pay and a fair process, apply from day one. Here is exactly what you are owed and what to do this week.

First: what you are owed even without two years' service

Most of redundancy law protects you regardless of how long you have been there. Your length of service changes the payout, not the basics. You are entitled to your full notice period, a proper consultation, any pay you have already earned, and any holiday you have built up but not taken. You also keep the right to a fair selection process. An employer cannot pick you just for being the newest, the youngest or the cheapest to lose.

What you lose without two years' service is the statutory redundancy payment itself, and in most cases the right to claim ordinary unfair dismissal. That gap is real but narrower than people assume. If you were selected for a reason the law treats as automatically unfair, such as pregnancy, whistleblowing or trade union activity, you can challenge it from day one. Check your contract too, because some employers pay enhanced redundancy from the start, and a contractual scheme overrides the statutory minimum. The gov.uk guide to redundancy rights sets out the full list.

Statutory redundancy pay: who qualifies and how it works

Once you pass two years, you are owed statutory redundancy pay, worked out from your age, your length of service and your weekly pay. The formula is set in law. Your employer cannot pay less, though they can pay more.

Two limits then cap the total. A week's pay is counted up to a maximum of £751, and the whole statutory payment is capped at £22,530, both from 6 April 2026. Only your last 20 years of service count. We checked every figure here against gov.uk's official redundancy pay guidance on 5 June 2026 and confirmed the weekly cap of £751 is current, because that cap rises most years and out-of-date numbers are the most common mistake in redundancy articles.

Suppose you are 24, have worked there for three full years and earn £420 a week: that is three weeks' pay, which comes to £1,260 before any contractual extras. The government's own redundancy calculator does this sum for you, and it is worth running before you accept any figure an employer quotes.

Consultation: what your employer has to do

Redundancy cannot be sprung on you in a single meeting. Your employer has to consult you genuinely, explain why your role is at risk, and look at alternatives before any final decision. When 20 or more jobs go at one site within 90 days, stricter collective consultation rules apply: at least 30 days before the first dismissal for 20 to 99 redundancies, and 45 days for 100 or more. If your employer skips a consultation it owes you, a tribunal can award you extra pay on top of anything else.

Notice, pay in lieu and tax

You are entitled to statutory notice of at least one week once you have been employed for a month, rising to one week for every full year you have worked, up to a maximum of twelve weeks. Your employer can ask you to work it, put you on garden leave, or pay you in lieu of notice if your contract allows.

The tax treatment trips people up. Genuine redundancy pay is tax-free up to £30,000, and you pay no National Insurance on it. But pay in lieu of notice, any bonus, and pay for holiday you did not take are all taxed as normal income, so the headline number is not what lands in your account.

If your employer has gone bust

If the company is insolvent and cannot pay, you do not simply lose out. You can claim your redundancy pay, unpaid wages, holiday pay and statutory notice pay from the government's Redundancy Payments Service instead, subject to the same weekly cap. Apply promptly, because the claim is time-limited and the money takes a few weeks to come through.

If the redundancy feels unfair

Redundancy has to be genuine: the role goes, not just the person. If you suspect you were chosen for an unfair or discriminatory reason, or the process was a sham, get advice quickly. The time limit to bring most employment tribunal claims is short, usually three months less one day from your dismissal, and you normally have to notify Acas first. Both Acas and Citizens Advice give free, impartial guidance and can often tell you in one call whether you have a case worth pursuing.

What to do this week

Move on the practical things while the clock is in your favour. Read your contract for any enhanced redundancy or notice terms, write down the dates of every meeting and what was said, and ask for your offer in writing before you respond. If money will be tight, check what you can claim straight away: our guide to Universal Credit at 18 to 24 covers what younger workers can get between jobs, and MoneyHelper has a free redundancy budgeting tool.

Then turn to the next role. The graduate market is tighter than it was, but it is not closed. See which employers are still hiring graduates in 2026 and get your applications ready with our graduate CV guide. You can find every careers piece we publish in the graduate jobs hub. Being made redundant early in your career is not a verdict on you. Handled well, it is a paid gap between two jobs.

Reviewed 5 Jun 2026 · Editorial standards

Written by

Priya Sharma

Priya read Business Management at Birmingham and worked in graduate recruitment before joining UniSorted as Careers Editor. She has read several thousand CVs and sat on assessment-centre panels for FTSE 100 grad schemes. She covers graduate schemes, CVs, applications, interviews, assessment centres, and first jobs. Contact: priya@unisorted.co.uk