Redundancy in Ireland: Rights, Process & Notice Periods

What is redundancy?

Redundancy happens when you lose your job because your role is no longer needed, not because of anything you did. Maybe the business is closing, moving, cutting staff numbers, or the work you did simply isn't required anymore. The key idea: redundancy is about the job, not the person.

If you're let go for a genuine redundancy reason and you have enough service, you're legally entitled to a statutory redundancy payment, which is tax-free.

What counts as a "genuine" redundancy

The law recognises redundancy in situations such as:

The employer closes down, or closes the place where you work.
The business needs fewer employees to do the work.
The work you were doing is no longer required, or is being done differently.
Your job is being done by someone with different skills, or merged with others.

Watch out: redundancy can't be used as an excuse to get rid of someone for performance, age or health reasons. If a "redundancy" is really about you personally, it may be an unfair dismissal, and you can challenge it.

Who qualifies for statutory redundancy pay

To be entitled to the statutory payment you generally need to:

Have at least 104 weeks (2 years) of continuous service with the employer (service before age 16 doesn't count).
Be in employment that is insurable under the Social Welfare Acts (usually Class A PRSI).
Have genuinely lost your job because it no longer exists.

The statutory amount is 2 weeks' gross pay for each year of service, plus one bonus week, with weekly pay capped at €600. It's completely free of income tax, USC and PRSI.

Work out your exact figure in the calculator →

The process, step by step

1
Warning & consultation. Your employer should tell you redundancies are being considered and consult with you (or your reps), especially in larger redundancies.
2
Fair selection. If only some roles go, the employer must use objective, consistent criteria (e.g. skills, experience, service), not favouritism.
3
Notice. You must get at least the statutory minimum notice (see below), or pay in lieu of it.
4
Payment. Your statutory redundancy (and any ex-gratia) is paid on or around your last day.

Collective redundancy (when many people go at once)

When an employer proposes to make a certain number of people redundant within any 30-day period, special "collective redundancy" rules apply. The thresholds are:

Size of workforce	Collective redundancy if…
21–49 employees	5 or more let go
50–99 employees	10 or more let go
100–299 employees	10% or more let go
300+ employees	30 or more let go

In a collective redundancy the employer must run a 30-day information and consultation process with employee representatives and notify the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment at least 30 days before the first dismissal. This consultation is where the ex-gratia package (the extra amount per year of service) is often negotiated.

Full page: the consultation and negotiating your package →

Notice periods you're owed

Under the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Acts, the minimum notice depends on your length of service (your contract may give you more, but never less):

Length of service	Minimum notice
13 weeks – 2 years	1 week
2 – 5 years	2 weeks
5 – 10 years	4 weeks
10 – 15 years	6 weeks
15 years or more	8 weeks

You're entitled to be paid as normal during your notice. If the employer wants you to leave immediately, they can pay you in lieu of notice instead.

Lay-off and short-time working

Lay-off is when your employer temporarily has no work for you (and doesn't pay you) but expects it to return. Short-time is when your hours or pay are cut to less than half. If a lay-off or short-time situation lasts 4 or more consecutive weeks (or 6 weeks in the last 13), you may be able to claim redundancy. Your employer then has 7 days to either pay redundancy or offer at least 13 weeks of steady work.

Alternatives to redundancy

Before making you redundant, a good employer should explore alternatives, such as:

A different role in another department or location.
Reduced hours, job-sharing or a temporary pay cut.
A career break or voluntary redundancy for others.

If you're offered a suitable alternative job and unreasonably refuse it, you can lose your right to a redundancy payment, so weigh any offer carefully.

If your employer doesn't pay you

If your employer refuses to pay, or genuinely can't (e.g. insolvency), you can apply to have your statutory redundancy paid from the Social Insurance Fund by the Department. You generally need to bring a claim within 52 weeks of your dismissal (this can sometimes be extended to 104 weeks for good reason). The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) handles disputes.

Keep copies of your contract, payslips, redundancy notice and any correspondence, they make any claim far easier.

Your pension when you're made redundant

If you're in a work (occupational) pension, being made redundant doesn't mean you lose it, the pension you've built up stays yours. These rules are the same for every employee: it makes no difference whether your employer let 100 people go or just you, or which sector you work in. (No work pension? You can skip this part.)

What you can usually do with it

Leave it where it is. With at least 2 years in the scheme, your benefits are "preserved", kept safe in the old scheme until you retire.
Transfer it to a new employer's scheme, to a PRSA, or to a Buy-Out Bond (also called a Personal Retirement Bond), a personal pension policy in your own name.
Get a refund of your own contributions, only if you had less than 2 years in the scheme. This is taxed.

By law your scheme must send you a "Leaving Service Options" letter within 2 months, setting out your choices. Read it carefully, you don't have to decide in a hurry.

The pension–tax trade-off. A tax-free lump sum from your pension lowers two of your redundancy tax reliefs (the Increased Exemption and the SCSB). Sometimes it's worth giving up the pension lump sum to get a bigger tax-free redundancy payment through the SCSB, and sometimes it isn't. It's a genuinely tricky money decision, so it's worth a quick chat with a financial adviser. See how the SCSB works on the tax page.

Glossary

The words you'll hear during a redundancy, in everyday language.

Statutory redundancy: The minimum payment the law says you must get: 2 weeks per year of service plus a bonus week, capped at €600/week. Tax-free.
Ex-gratia: Extra money your employer chooses to pay on top of the legal minimum. Latin for "as a favour".
Consultation: The period (at least 30 days in larger redundancies) when the employer must talk things through with staff before any dismissals.
Reckonable service: The years of work that count towards your redundancy. Most of your time counts; some long unpaid absences may not.
Gross pay: Your pay before any tax is taken off. Redundancy is always worked out on gross pay, not take-home.
Basic & Increased Exemption: Tax-free slices of your ex-gratia. The tax page shows the amounts.
SCSB: Standard Capital Superannuation Benefit, an alternative tax relief that often helps most with long service or higher pay.
USC: Universal Social Charge, a tax on income, charged on top of income tax.
PRSI: Pay Related Social Insurance, social-insurance contributions from your wages. It never applies to redundancy payments.
Lump sum: A single one-off payment, as opposed to weekly or monthly wages.
WRC: Workplace Relations Commission, the free State body that handles workplace disputes.

Ready to see the numbers?

Open the calculator → How tax works →

Redundancy in Ireland: the complete guide