Redundancy in Northern Ireland
Redundancy in both jurisdictions of Ireland is usually a form of dismissal from your job when a role is no longer needed or available. Your employer should only consider making redundancies if the business is, for example
- closing or has already closed
- changing the types or numbers of jobs needed to do certain work
- moving location
Your employer may look at other options like changing working hours, offering voluntary redundancy or moving employees into different roles before deciding on redundancies.
By law, your employer must follow a consultation and fair selection process before making any employees redundant and it’s important to note that you cannot be selected because of your age, gender, or if you’re disabled or pregnant – this could be classed as unfair dismissal.
You can read further detailed information on redundancy and your rights in Northern Ireland at Your rights if made redundant | nidirect
Redundancy pay
If you are made redundant, you may be entitled to statutory redundancy pay which will be dependent upon your age, your earnings and how long you have worked for your employer. You can calculate your potential entitlement to statutory redundancy pay here. You should also check your employment contract as your employer may offer a more generous contractual redundancy payment scheme than your statutory entitlement.
Cross border issues
If you are wholly unemployed as a result of being made redundant, you should seek to claim an out of work benefit in the state in which you live.
Live north & work south: you would claim New Style Jobseekers Allowance and/or Universal Credit in Northern Ireland (assuming you meet the normal eligibility criteria for these benefits)
Live south & work north: you would claim Jobseekers Benefit or Jobseekers Allowance in Ireland (assuming you meet the normal eligibility criteria for these benefits)
If your unemployment is partial or intermittent, ie you are not wholly unemployed or you are working reduced hours, you should claim benefits in the state of your last employment.
Further information
- Redundancy | Labour Relations Agency – Official (lra.org.uk)
- Redundancy: your rights: Overview – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- What is redundancy? | nibusinessinfo.co.uk
Page last checked: August 2022
This webpage is for general information purposes only and while we endeavour to keep it up-to-date, errors may occur. It is very important that you check with the relevant body to ensure the information is current and is applicable to your situation: – North / South
If you would like to suggest amendments or highlight new information that could be useful to others please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
This webpage is for general information purposes only and while we endeavour to keep it up-to-date, errors may occur. It is very important that you check with the relevant body to ensure the information is current and is applicable to your situation.
If you would like to suggest amendments or highlight new information that could be useful to others please don’t hesitate to get in touch.