Northern Ireland has its own redundancy law and its own, higher cap on a week's pay. Enter the date your job ends, your age and years of service on that date, and your weekly pay to see the statutory redundancy pay you're owed.
Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996
Redundancy pay in Northern Ireland comes from Article 197 of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996, not from the Great Britain Act. You count back from the relevant date, usually the day your notice runs out, in complete years of continuous employment. Each year earns an amount set by your age during that year:
| Your age during the year of service | Pay for that year |
|---|---|
| Under 22 | Half a week's pay |
| 22 to 40 | One week's pay |
| 41 or over | One and a half weeks' pay |
Only the last 20 years count, and you need at least two years of continuous employment ending with the relevant date to qualify at all. A week's pay is capped, and the cap is updated each April. Enter your age in whole years on the relevant date and the calculator works out which of your years fall in each band, counting back from that date.
The Department for the Economy sets Northern Ireland's limits in its own order, the latest taking effect on 6 April 2026. For a relevant date on or after 6 April 2026, a week's pay counts for no more than £783, up from £749. That puts the largest possible statutory payment at 20 years × 1.5 weeks × £783 = £23,490.
| Relevant date | Cap on a week's pay | Most you can get |
|---|---|---|
| On or after 6 April 2026 | £783 | £23,490 |
| 6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026 | £749 | £22,470 |
| 6 April 2024 to 5 April 2025 | £729 | £21,870 |
Which cap applies depends on the relevant date, not the day you were told about the redundancy or the day you're paid: the 2026 order says its new limits don't apply where the relevant date falls before 6 April 2026. Great Britain has a lower cap, £751 from 6 April 2026, under a separate order that covers England, Wales and Scotland.
nidirect's second example is a 30-year-old paid £15 an hour for an average of 30 hours a week, so £450, with 10 years of service. Eight of those years were at ages 22 to 40, worth a week's pay each, and two were at 21 or under, worth half a week each. That's 9 weeks, and 9 × £450 = £4,050.
Now take someone aged 45 on £600 a week with 15 years of service, the calculator's starting figures. The four years from age 41 count at one and a half weeks, 6 weeks in all, and the other 11 years count at one week, so 17 weeks in total. Because £600 is below the £783 cap, the payment is 17 × £600 = £10,200. The cap only bites when pay is higher: on £900 a week the same service gives 17 × £783 = £13,311.
If your contract ends with notice, from you or your employer, the relevant date is the day the notice expires. Without notice, it's the day the termination takes effect. nidirect adds that if you don't get a statutory notice period, for example because of a payment in lieu arrangement, the relevant date is when your contract would have ended, so check the date carefully before counting your years.
If your pay doesn't vary, a week's pay is what your contract pays for working your normal hours in a week. If you have no normal working hours, it's your average weekly pay over the last 12 weeks. nidirect says weekly pay should also include regular overtime and any bonuses or commission. Your employer must give you a written statement showing how your redundancy payment was worked out.
Statutory redundancy pay isn't taxed as earnings. Section 309 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 covers redundancy payments under Part 12 of the Northern Ireland Order as well as the Great Britain Act. HMRC's manual explains that there's unlikely to be any tax because most statutory payments are below the £30,000 threshold, but all payments for the termination, apart from post-employment notice pay, have to be added together to apply that threshold. As nidirect puts it, redundancy pay under £30,000 is not taxable. HMRC's National Insurance manual says a redundancy payment is disregarded when working out earnings for Class 1 contributions.
You don't have to claim statutory redundancy pay: your employer should pay it automatically, normally on the last day of your notice, shortly afterwards or on your next payday. If it doesn't, write to your employer asking for payment. The legal time limit is six months from the relevant date. By then the payment must have been agreed and paid, or you must have claimed it in writing, referred the question to an industrial tribunal or made an unfair dismissal complaint. A tribunal can still award it in the following six months if it considers that just and equitable.
For a job in England, Scotland or Wales, use our redundancy pay calculator for Great Britain. The termination payment tax calculator shows how a larger package is taxed, the notice pay calculator covers pay for your notice period, and the holiday pay calculator helps with holiday owed when you leave.
Half a week's pay for each full year of service under age 22, one week's pay for each year aged 22 to 40 and one and a half weeks' pay for each year aged 41 or over, for up to 20 years. A week's pay is capped at £783 for a relevant date on or after 6 April 2026.
£23,490 for a relevant date on or after 6 April 2026: 20 years at one and a half weeks' pay, with a week's pay capped at £783. It was £22,470 for relevant dates from 6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026.
Yes. Northern Ireland sets its own limits. From 6 April 2026 the cap on a week's pay is £783 in Northern Ireland and £751 in England, Wales and Scotland.
At least two years of continuous employment with your employer, ending with the relevant date.
Statutory redundancy pay isn't taxed as earnings. It counts towards the £30,000 tax-free threshold for termination payments, added together with any other termination payment apart from post-employment notice pay. The same UK tax rules apply in Northern Ireland.
Write to your employer asking for payment. If that doesn't work, you can go to an industrial tribunal, but act within six months of the relevant date. If your employer is insolvent, you may be able to get the money from the government.
