A Bill to provide for a mechanism for statutory redundancy pay which links it to average weekly earnings; and for connected purposes
The right of an employee to receive a one-off redundancy payment from their employer is well established, appearing in many individual contracts of employment. The Employment Rights Act 1996 entitles employees to a redundancy payment after they have been employed continuously with the same employer for two years. The payment is calculated with reference to how long the employment has lasted, the relevant age bracket into which the employee falls, and their weekly pay. The legislation places a ‘cap’ on the amount of a week’s pay to be used in the calculation. This cap is reviewed annually and if necessary uprated in line with the retail prices index. The Bill would oblige the Secretary of State to introduce regulations within a specific time frame that would establish a link between the annual uprating of the cap and average earnings.
House of Commons
Sir Lindsay HoyleSpeaker
21 October 2009
May contain errors — check source documents for definitive information.
The Statutory Redundancy Pay (Amendment) Bill would create a formal mechanism to link the cap used in statutory redundancy pay to average weekly earnings. It would require the government to introduce regulations within a set period to uprate the cap in line with earnings growth rather than price changes, building on the existing two-years service rule in the Employment Rights Act 1996.
The bill is at the Money Resolution stage in the Commons, having completed First Reading (21 Jan 2009) and Second Reading (13 Mar 2009). It originated in the Commons and is sponsored by Sir Lindsay Hoyle.
Generated 21 February 2026
21 Jan 2009
13 Mar 2009
16 Jun 2009
The Bill was debated at Second Reading on 13 March. The House of Commons voted for it to be sent to a Public Bill Committee that will scrutinise the Bill clause by clause.
The Bill was withdrawn by its sponsor and will make no further progress.
No recorded votes for this bill yet.
