I’ve been made redundant — how can I get as much money out of them as possible?

James needs to get the biggest payout possible (Picture: Getty Images)

Being made redundant is an emotional experience, but it pays to keep a level head after the initial shock has settled. After all, your employer has had more time to prepare for negotiations than you have.

This week, we hear from James, a 46-year-old from Solihull, who needs to secure the largest redundacy payout possible to support his wife and two children.

Sadly, it’ll be a problem that resonates with a lot of readers. A survey carried out by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development earlier this year found that a third of UK companies were planning to make staff redundant – the highest level in a decade, excluding the pandemic.

So, in this week’s Money Problem, Metro consumer champion, Sarah Davidson lays out the best options.

The problem…

I’m 46, married and have two boys, one eight and the other three. I work full-time as a sales manager for a large company that provides a range of shampoos, conditioners etc to supermarkets. I’ve been managing a team of nine for more than 10 years and am good at my job.

Last week my line manager called me into his office and told me the company is having to make a number of redundancies and my job is one of them. I was stunned. I have worked for this company for more than 10 years and always hit my sales targets. Apparently none of that matters – they’re moving their sales division to Europe so the UK team is now all on notice.

This is a nightmare. My wife works part-time in communications and has a good salary but it’s not enough to support all four of us. I’ve put the feelers out for a new job but have been told by various headhunters that I’ll be lucky to find anything because of my salary expectations. I’m not even on that much.

I really need to get as much as I can out of this redundancy to give me as long as possible to find another job. How do I negotiate with them?

The answer…

I’m so sorry to hear this, James. Finding yourself unemployed because of redundancy is horrendous, even without the worry that losing an income brings.

Unfortunately, you’re experiencing what an awful lot of others are at the moment.

Employers have been battered by a rise in the amount of national insurance contributions they need to make to keep you in a job after the government announced a tax raid in last year’s Budget.

It’s triggered hundreds of thousands of job losses across all sectors.

This is cold comfort, I’m sure. The only way to soften the blow is to secure as large a redundancy package as possible.

There are laws around what companies can and can’t do when making your job redundant. The specifics depend on the type of role you have, how long you’ve been with the company and any relevant contractual agreements.

Thousands across the UK will face redundancy this year (Picture: Getty Images)

Broadly speaking, most employees will be entitled to some redundancy pay, a notice period and a period of consultation with the company. Depending on the reasons for the redundancy, there may be the option to move to a different role within the business.

You’re an employee (rather than a contractor or similar) and have worked for the company for more than two years so you should be entitled to statutory redundancy pay.  

You’ll get one week’s pay for each full year you worked for them when you were under the age of 41, and one and a half week’s pay for each full year you were 41 or older.

Your weekly pay is the average you earned per week over the 12 weeks before the day you got your redundancy notice. Because you were made redundant after 6 April 2025, your weekly pay is capped at £719 and the maximum statutory redundancy pay you can get is £21,570. These are figures determined by the government.

This is just the statutory amount that your employer must give you – they may choose to give you a further termination payment, which might include any holiday pay, benefits such as your pension contributions or bonuses.

You could fare better if you join together with colleagues (Picture: Getty Images)

You’ve said you work in sales, so it’s likely you’re on a base salary with performance-linked commission – you’ll need to make sure that any payout they award you takes that into consideration.

You’ve worked for them for over 10 years, so they’ll have to give you a minimum of a week’s notice for each year you’ve worked for them, up to 12 weeks. This means you’ll be paid your normal salary during this period on top of the statutory redundancy payment you receive – whether they expect you to work through that notice or not.

Unless your contract states otherwise, you should also keep getting your pension and any other employment benefits like healthcare through that notice period too.

This is the absolute minimum that you should get but you want to know how to secure more than this. There’s no guarantee your employer will agree to signing over a bigger settlement but if you don’t ask, you won’t get.

Before you ask, do your homework. You’ll need to check your employment contract carefully. Some people will have clauses in there which restrict what roles you can take for a period of time after you leave – non-compete clauses for example.

If this applies to you, then you’ve got a stronger case for arguing you should be given a bigger payout to cover you for the period you aren’t allowed to take on a similar role with another company. Confidentiality agreements are another thing to check, for similar reasons.

Read the small print in your employer’s redundancy policies, talk to your colleagues about their plans and, if you can afford to, get some legal advice. It may also be worth speaking to any former colleagues if they’ve been through redundancy with the same company – though be very, very careful you don’t accidentally breach any terms in your own contract by doing this.

In cases like this, information is power. So is access to the right people.

If you have access to the decision-maker with the purse-strings, then you might consider negotiating with them yourself.

If you’re talking to the monkey not the organ-grinder, you might be in a stronger negotiating position if you, individually or with your colleagues, appoint a legal or union representative to negotiate on your behalf.

Whatever you decide, make sure you’re polite and provide clear, well-argued reasons for your requests. Hard as it is, try not to let emotions come into the process – it won’t help your case.

Keep notes of all meetings and conversations so you have a paper trail and evidence of anything that’s offered to you and what’s been said.

You can calculate your statutory entitlement online at https://www.gov.uk/calculate-your-redundancy-pay. Ultimately, any additional redundancy payments are at the discretion of your employer, providing they’ve adhered to the legal process.

Finally, contact Acas on 0300 123 1100. They offer a free and confidential advice service for anyone who needs employment law or workplace advice, including employers, employees and workers.

Good luck.

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