Key points
- Redundancy is when your employer no longer needs your job done by anyone, or the business becomes insolvent or bankrupt.
- Redundancy pay under the National Employment Standards ranges from 4 weeks (1 year's service) to 16 weeks (9 years), and is 12 weeks at 10 years or more, at your base rate.
- You also get notice (1 to 4 weeks, plus a week if you are over 45 with 2 years' service), or pay in lieu.
- No redundancy pay from small businesses (fewer than 15 employees), with under 12 months' service, for casuals, or for fixed-term, task or season employment.
- A genuine redundancy requires operational changes, any required consultation, and no reasonable redeployment option.
- Not genuine? You may have an unfair dismissal claim, which must be lodged within 21 days.
- For advice on a redundancy or dismissal, call 1800 577 015 at any hour: free general legal information, and a 60-minute consultation with a lawyer for a fixed $295.
Under the Fair Work Act 2009, an employee made redundant because the employer no longer requires their job to be done by anyone, or because of the employer's insolvency, is entitled to redundancy pay of 4 weeks' base pay after 1 year's continuous service, rising to 16 weeks after 9 years and 12 weeks after 10 years or more. Small business employers with fewer than 15 employees, and employees with less than 12 months' service, casuals and fixed-term employees, are excluded.
Checked on 23 October 2026 against the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth).
What is redundancy?
Redundancy (also called retrenchment) is when your employment ends because your employer no longer needs your job to be done by anyone. Under the National Employment Standards in the Fair Work Act 2009, an employee is entitled to redundancy pay if their employment is terminated:
- at the employer's initiative because the employer no longer requires the job done by the employee to be done by anyone, except where this is due to the ordinary and customary turnover of labour; or
- because of the employer's insolvency or bankruptcy.
If someone else is hired to do the same job, it is usually not a redundancy. Your position, not you, must be what is no longer needed.
How much redundancy pay you get
| Continuous service with the employer | Redundancy pay |
|---|---|
| Less than 1 year | None under the National Employment Standards |
| At least 1 year but less than 2 years | 4 weeks |
| At least 2 years but less than 3 years | 6 weeks |
| At least 3 years but less than 4 years | 7 weeks |
| At least 4 years but less than 5 years | 8 weeks |
| At least 5 years but less than 6 years | 10 weeks |
| At least 6 years but less than 7 years | 11 weeks |
| At least 7 years but less than 8 years | 13 weeks |
| At least 8 years but less than 9 years | 14 weeks |
| At least 9 years but less than 10 years | 16 weeks |
| At least 10 years | 12 weeks |
- How it is paid: the weeks are paid at your base rate of pay for your ordinary hours of work.
- At 10 years: the scale in the Act falls from 16 weeks to 12 weeks at 10 years' service. Your award, enterprise agreement or contract may give you more.
- Casual service does not count toward continuous service for redundancy pay.
- Reductions: the Fair Work Commission can, on the employer's application, reduce the amount (even to nil) if the employer finds you other acceptable employment or cannot pay it.
Notice of termination
Separately from redundancy pay, an employer must give written notice of the day your employment ends, or pay in lieu of notice:
| Continuous service | Minimum notice |
|---|---|
| Not more than 1 year | 1 week |
| More than 1 year but not more than 3 years | 2 weeks |
| More than 3 years but not more than 5 years | 3 weeks |
| More than 5 years | 4 weeks |
Add 1 week if you are over 45 and have at least 2 years of continuous service. Pay in lieu of notice is at the full rate of pay for the hours you would have worked during the notice period.
Who does not get redundancy pay
- Small businesses: employers with fewer than 15 employees (counting regular casuals) do not have to pay National Employment Standards redundancy pay, except in some cases where the business is bankrupt or in liquidation and became small because of terminations in the 6 months before.
- Short service: less than 12 months of continuous service (not counting casual employment).
- Not covered at all: employees engaged for a specified period, task or season (unless that was done mainly to avoid redundancy pay); employees dismissed for serious misconduct; casual employees; and some trainees.
- Awards and agreements can contain other exclusions, or more generous entitlements.
Genuine redundancy and unfair dismissal
- Genuine redundancy: under the Fair Work Act, a dismissal is a genuine redundancy if the employer no longer required the person's job to be performed by anyone because of changes in the operational requirements of its enterprise, and it complied with any award or enterprise agreement obligation to consult about the redundancy.
- Redeployment: it is not a genuine redundancy if it would have been reasonable in all the circumstances to redeploy the person within the employer's enterprise, or within an associated entity's.
- Why it matters: a genuine redundancy cannot be an unfair dismissal. If the redundancy was not genuine, you may be able to apply to the Fair Work Commission for unfair dismissal, but the application has a strict 21-day deadline.
Free help
| Service | Number | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Fair Work Ombudsman Infoline (redundancy pay, notice and entitlements) | 13 13 94 | 8am to 5:30pm, Monday to Friday |
| Fair Work Commission help line (unfair dismissal applications and process; no legal advice) | 1300 799 675 | 9am to 5pm local time, Monday to Friday |
How Go To Court Lawyers can help
Our free line, 1800 577 015, answers at any hour. Jen, our AI legal information assistant, gives general legal information and takes your details; Jen is not a lawyer and does not give advice about your case. A 60-minute consultation with a lawyer who practises in your state is a fixed $295, by phone, video or in person where the lawyer offers it. The lawyer can check your redundancy pay and notice, whether the redundancy was genuine, and whether to lodge an unfair dismissal application within the 21 days. Requests are taken at any hour; how soon a lawyer can see you depends on who is available. Request a $295 consultation.
General information only, not legal advice. Updated 23 October 2026. Checked against the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), compilation No. 73 (7 July 2026), sections 23, 117, 119 to 121, 123, 385 and 389, on 23 October 2026.