Redundancy

An employer can only make a role redundant if it is a real redundancy. The law protects employees from dismissal that is not a legal (‘genuine’) redundancy.

What is redundancy?

An employer may decide they no longer need anyone to do a specific job. This is usually because of changes to the way the business runs. For example:

• an employer closes their store or restaurant
• a business has fewer customers, so the employer does not need as many employees
• a business goes bust or the employer becomes bankrupt.

Understand your rights

The employer must follow the rules to make sure a redundancy is real or ‘genuine’.

When your employer tells you your role is redundant, use the Fair Work Ombudsman’s resources to understand:

• What is a genuine redundancy
• What your redundancy pay and entitlements should be
• Who doesn't get redundancy pay?

If an award or enterprise agreement covers you, this contains the process your employer must follow if they plan redundancies.

How we may help

We may be able to help if you are made redundant.

If you believe the redundancy was not genuine, you may be eligible to apply for unfair dismissal.

If you believe the reason for the redundancy breaks the General Protections laws (see About general protections and adverse action), you may be eligible to apply for general protections dismissal.