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Statutory redundancy pay calculator

Figures Last checked Where these come from

At 45 with 10 years of service and a week's pay of £600, statutory redundancy pay is £7,200 — 12 weeks, and tax free. Note it is not fifteen weeks: only four of those ten years were worked at 41 or over, and the other six earn a single week each. Using the higher rate throughout would overstate it by £1,800.

£
Statutory redundancy pay £7,200 tax free
Which is 12 weeks at £600.00

Neither statutory cap applies at these figures — your full service and your full week's pay both count.

How the weeks are earned
For each year workedYearsWeeks
One and a half weeks — aged 41 to 4446
One week — aged 35 to 4066
Total1012
12 weeks at £600.00£7,200.00

Statutory redundancy pay is not taxed. The rate changes with the age you were during each year of service, which is why the years are grouped above rather than multiplied by a single figure.

How this is worked out

Statutory redundancy pay is a number of weeks' pay, and the number of weeks depends on your age during each year you worked. GOV.UK sets three rates: half a week for each full year worked under 22, one week for each year from 22 to 40, and one and a half weeks for each year at 41 or over.

This walks your service backwards from the day the job ends, asking what age you were during each year and applying the rate for that age — rather than applying one rate to the whole period, which is what makes most simplified calculators wrong for anybody who had a birthday at 22 or 41 while employed. Two statutory limits are then applied: only the most recent 20 years count, and a week's pay counts as at most £751 however much you earn.

Those figures together produce the statutory maximum of £22,530: twenty years at one and a half weeks is thirty weeks, and thirty weeks at £751 is exactly that. GOV.UK publishes both the inputs and that total, so the two confirm each other — and a test asserts it, which means an April update that changed the weekly cap and forgot the maximum would fail the build rather than quietly pay people the wrong amount.

What catches people out

  • The age bands apply to your age during each year of service, not your age on the day the job ends. Someone made redundant at 45 after ten years spent four of those years aged 41 or over and six below it, so they earn twelve weeks rather than fifteen. Calculators that multiply your whole service by the rate for your current age overstate the figure, and the result looks entirely plausible.
  • A week's pay is capped at £751 for redundancies on or after 6 April 2026, however much you actually earn. Above roughly £39,000 a year the cap binds, so two people on very different salaries with identical service receive identical statutory redundancy pay. Anything more than that comes from your contract, not from the statute.
  • Only the most recent 20 years count. Someone with 30 years of service is paid for 20 of them — and it is the last 20, which are usually the ones at the highest rate, so the cap costs less than it first appears.
  • Statutory redundancy pay is the legal minimum, not the offer. Many contracts provide enhanced terms, and an employer can pay more at any time. This page works out the floor beneath any negotiation, which is the useful thing to know before one starts.
  • You need two full years of continuous service to be entitled to anything at all. At one year and eleven months the statutory entitlement is nil, which makes the exact start date on your contract worth checking rather than estimating.

Questions

Is statutory redundancy pay taxed?

No. GOV.UK states that statutory redundancy pay under £30,000 is not taxable, and the statutory maximum is well below that figure.

A wider termination package is a different matter. Holiday pay, unpaid wages and bonuses are taxed as ordinary earnings, and only part of a package may fall within the £30,000 exemption. This page calculates the statutory element alone.

Which weekly pay figure should I enter?

Your average weekly earnings over the 12 weeks before the day you were given redundancy notice — not your current contractual rate and not an annual salary divided by 52.

For anyone with variable pay, overtime or commission those are genuinely different numbers. If you were on furlough and paid less than usual, the calculation uses what you would normally have earned.

Why is my payment lower than my salary suggests?

Almost always the weekly cap. A week's pay counts as at most £751 for redundancies on or after 6 April 2026, so above about £39,000 a year the statutory calculation stops tracking your salary entirely.

It can also be the 20-year limit on service, or years worked below 41 earning a lower rate than you expected.

Does the calculation change if I am dismissed for another reason?

Yes — statutory redundancy pay only applies to redundancy. Being dismissed for misconduct is not redundancy and carries no entitlement, and neither does refusing suitable alternative work without good reason.

There are also excluded groups, including share fishermen, crown servants and members of the armed forces. GOV.UK lists them in full.

How long do I have to claim?

Six months from the date the job ends. That is a hard deadline rather than a guideline, and it is short enough that it is worth acting on early.

Sources

  1. Redundancy: your rights: Statutory redundancy payGOV.UK checked
  2. Redundancy: your rights: Tax and National InsuranceGOV.UK checked

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