REDUNDANCY

Redundancy is the loss of employment as a direct result of operational changes to the employers business. This may be said to include changes for economic, technological or structural reasons.

Redundancy is said to occur where the employer has made a definite decision that they no longer wish the position the employee held to be held by anyone and that decision leads to the termination of employment of the employee.

Redundancy is no fault of the employee. Redundancy should not be confused with unfair dismissal or unlawful termination.

With the introduction of the Federal Governments Work Choices package in December 2005 Redundancy provisions for  businesses with 15 or less employees is in force. This means that to claim redundancy the employer must have 15 plus employees. However your award may have a clause in it that alters the 15 plus arrangement.

If you are made redundant you are entitled to Notice of Termination. Refer to our Industrial page for more details on Notice of Termination. You may also be entitled to a redundancy / severance package.

The amount of redundancy / severance pay you may be entitled to may vary between workplaces. The amount could be set by state legislation, Award, Employment Contract or Workplace Agreement.

Further you are entitled to accumulated entitlements such as accrued annual leave, long service leave if eligible.

Casual employees do not receive redundancy / severance payments. 

The following table sets out the main Federal Award which is consistent with the Western Australian provision.

           Period of continuous Service         Severance pay

Less than 1 year

Nil

1 year and less than 2 years

4 weeks’ pay

2 years and less than 3 years

6 weeks’ pay

3 years and less than 4 years

7 weeks’ pay

4 years and less than 5 years

8 weeks’ pay

5 years and less than 6 years

10 weeks’ pay

6 years and less than 7 years

11 weeks’ pay

7 years and less than 8 years

13 weeks’ pay

8 years and less than 9 years

14 weeks’ pay
9 years and less than 10 years 16 weeks' pay
10 years and over 12 weeks' pay

If you have been made redundant you may be entitled to a redundancy package. As part of our negotiation and mediation process we can help you obtain the proper redundancy package you are entitled to. Why settle for less?