UK Statutory Redundancy Pay calculator.
Statutory Redundancy Pay
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Tax-free portion (up to £30K)
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How the statutory formula treats your age
Statutory redundancy pay is a legal minimum, not a negotiated settlement, and it is built from three things: your age, your complete years of service, and a weekly pay figure. The formula rewards older and longer serving staff. For each full year you worked while aged 41 or over you earn one and a half weeks of pay. For each full year worked between 22 and 40 you earn one week. For years worked under 22 you earn half a week. Service is capped at 20 years, counting back from your leaving date, and the weekly pay used in the sum is capped. This calculator uses a £700 weekly cap, so any earnings above that are ignored when the statutory figure is worked out, even if you earn far more.
A worked case: 15 years, age 45
Take someone made redundant at 45 with 15 complete years of service and a weekly wage of £600, which is below the cap so the full amount counts. The calculator works backward through the age bands. The four most recent years were worked while aged 41 or over, each earning one and a half weeks. The remaining 11 years were worked between 22 and 40, each earning one week. That gives 6 weeks plus 11 weeks, a total of 17 weeks, multiplied by £600.
| Service band | Years | Weeks earned |
|---|---|---|
| Worked aged 41 to 45 (1.5 weeks each) | 4 | 6.0 |
| Worked aged 22 to 40 (1 week each) | 11 | 11.0 |
| Total weeks of pay | 15 | 17.0 |
| Statutory pay (17 weeks times £600) | £10,200 |
The whole £10,200 falls under the £30,000 tax-free threshold, so it lands in the bank untouched by income tax or National Insurance. The chart shows how those 17 weeks split between the higher value band for years worked at 41 plus and the standard band below it.
The £30,000 line and what sits above it
The first £30,000 of a genuine redundancy payment is free of income tax and National Insurance under HMRC rules. Anything above that, which usually only happens with a generous enhanced contractual scheme rather than the statutory minimum, is taxed as employment income at your marginal rate. The common trap is assuming the whole exit package is tax-free. It is not. Payment in lieu of notice is fully taxable as ordinary wages, holiday pay owed to you is taxable, and any bonus is taxable. Only the true compensation for loss of your job benefits from the £30,000 exemption. This tool is for employees checking that the statutory figure their employer has offered is correct, and for anyone modelling a settlement before agreeing to it.
When the statutory figure looks wrong
If your employer pays you less than the statutory minimum this tool calculates, you have a clear legal entitlement to the shortfall. Start by raising it in writing with the employer, setting out the age, service, and weekly pay you believe apply. If that fails, a claim to an employment tribunal must normally be lodged within six months less one day of the date your employment ended, which is a tighter window than most other employment claims. A separate situation arises if your employer is insolvent and cannot pay: you can claim your statutory redundancy pay directly from the government's Redundancy Payments Service using form RP1, which pays from the National Insurance Fund up to the same statutory limits. Keep your written statement of employment, payslips, and the redundancy letter, because those documents are exactly what the tribunal or the Redundancy Payments Service will ask you to evidence.
People also ask
What if I earn far more than the £700 weekly cap?
The statutory calculation still uses the capped weekly figure, so a high earner and a colleague on £700 a week with identical age and service receive the same statutory amount. High earners usually rely on a contractual enhanced redundancy scheme to bridge the gap. Your true weekly pay matters for that contractual top up, but never for the statutory minimum this tool reports.
Do I need two years of service to qualify?
Yes. There is no statutory redundancy entitlement at all until you have at least two complete years of continuous employment with the same employer. Below that threshold the formula returns nothing, regardless of age. Once you cross two years, every additional complete year adds to the count until you hit the 20 year cap.
A point worth flagging from experience: always confirm the leaving date used in the calculation, because service is measured to the date your employment actually ends, not the date you were told. A single extra week can tip you over a year boundary and add a full week or week and a half of pay. If you are close to an anniversary, it is reasonable to ask whether your end date can be adjusted to capture it.