Redundancy pay and notice explained: weeks, amounts and who misses out
When a job is made redundant, two different entitlements can apply. One is notice, or pay instead of notice. The other is redundancy pay. They are separate, they follow different tables, and they stop applying in different situations. This guide sets out the National Employment Standards (NES) minimums in the Fair Work Act 2009 and works through four examples with the same code that runs the redundancy calculator.
An award or enterprise agreement can give you more than the NES, and sometimes replaces the NES scale. Everything below is the legal minimum for an employee who is covered by the NES and has no better term.
1. Notice of termination
An employer who ends your job must give written notice, or pay instead of notice, unless it is a case such as serious misconduct. The minimum period depends on your continuous service at the end of the day notice is given (Fair Work Act s 117(3)).
| Continuous service | Minimum notice |
|---|---|
| Not more than 1 year | 1 week |
| More than 1 year, not more than 3 years | 2 weeks |
| More than 3 years, not more than 5 years | 3 weeks |
| More than 5 years | 4 weeks |
The period gains one more week if you are over 45 years old at the end of the day notice is given and have completed at least 2 years of continuous service. That is why the notice for a 52-year-old with two years' service in example B is 3 weeks, not 2 weeks.
Instead of working the notice period, the employer can pay you the amount you would have been paid for it. That payment is the notice pay in the tables below. Casual employees, fixed-term employees and a few other groups are outside the notice rule.
2. Redundancy pay
Redundancy pay is a lump sum for the loss of the job. The number of weeks depends on your continuous service at the end of employment (s 119(2)). It is paid at your base rate for ordinary hours, so it leaves out overtime, penalty rates, allowances, bonuses and loadings.
| Continuous service | Redundancy pay |
|---|---|
| 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 |
The table in the Act gives 12 weeks for 10 years or more, which is fewer than the 16 weeks at 9 years. The Fair Work Ombudsman publishes the same table and a separate article on pay after 10 years of service. If you are in that band, read the article before relying on any calculator, this one included.
3. Who does not get redundancy pay
- Under 12 months of service. Redundancy pay starts at one full year (s 121(1)). Notice can still apply.
- Small business employers. An employer with fewer than 15 employees does not have to pay NES redundancy pay (s 121(1), with the counting rules in s 23). There is a narrow exception in s 121(4) for an employer in bankruptcy or liquidation that became small only because of the terminations; see the small business guide.
- Casual employees, fixed-term, task or seasonal employees and employees dismissed for serious misconduct (s 123).
- Apprentices and employees under some industry-specific schemes in modern awards (s 123(4)).
4. Four examples
In each case notice was given on 28 October 2026 and the last day was 27 November 2026. Service is counted from the start date to the last day.
| A | B | C | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Continuous service at the last day | 6 full years | 2 full years | 8 full years | 0 full years |
| Age | 40 | 52 | 38 | 30 |
| Employer size | 15 or more | 15 or more | Under 15 | 15 or more |
| Weekly base pay | $1,800 | $1,400 | $1,600 | $1,500 |
| Notice period | 4 weeks | 3 weeks | 4 weeks | 1 week |
| Pay instead of notice | $7,200 | $4,200 | $6,400 | $1,500 |
| Redundancy pay (weeks) | 11 weeks | 6 weeks | None | None |
| Redundancy pay (amount) | $19,800 | $8,400 | $0 | $0 |
A. Started 4 August 2020, 40 years old, $1,800 a week at a larger employer. Over five years of service gives 4 weeks of notice ($7,200 if paid out) and the 6-year row gives 11 weeks of redundancy pay, $19,800.
B. Started 15 April 2024, 52 years old, $1,400 a week. Two full years of service gives 6 weeks of redundancy pay, $8,400, and 3 weeks of notice because of the extra week for age.
C. Started 3 September 2018 at an employer with fewer than 15 employees. The NES gives no redundancy pay. The notice rules still apply: 4 weeks, worth $6,400 if paid out.
D. Started 1 December 2025, so less than 12 months at the last day. No redundancy pay, but 1 week of notice ($1,500 if paid out).
5. What else is in the final pay
Redundancy pay is not the whole final payment. Wages owed, unused annual leave (including annual leave loading if it would have been paid during employment) and any long service leave entitlement are paid as well. The annual leave payout guide shows how the leave part is worked out.
Tax on a redundancy payment depends on whether it qualifies as a genuine redundancy payment and on your other income. This site does not calculate it. The amounts above are before tax.
6. Dates and counting
Service is counted from the first day of continuous service. Unpaid leave does not count towards the service used for redundancy pay, but it does not break continuity. The calculator treats the anniversary date as completing the year and counts the start date as day one. Where you are within a few days of a threshold, such as the one-year mark or a birthday, get the exact answer from your employer or the Fair Work Ombudsman rather than relying on the day count here.
Calculate your redundancy pay and noticeSources
- Fair Work Act 2009 ss 117, 119, 121, 123 (compilation in force 7 July 2026)
- Fair Work Ombudsman: Redundancy pay
- Every rate used, with its source and check date: Sources and rates
This calculator is general information, not tax, legal or financial advice. It uses the legislation and official pages listed on the Sources page, and your payslip, award, agreement or tax return may differ. Rates as at 1 November 2026.