The decisions you make in the first two days after being made redundant determine how much you recover and whether you have a legal claim. Most people accept whatever they are told and move on. Do not do that until you have read this.
Hour One: Do Not Sign Anything
The most important thing you can do in the first hour is nothing. Do not sign any document your employer puts in front of you. Not a settlement agreement, not a redundancy acceptance form, not a waiver of any kind. You are not legally required to sign anything immediately. Ask for time to consider. If the employer insists you sign today, that pressure itself is worth noting -- and in some circumstances it means the agreement is unenforceable.
The one exception is acknowledging receipt of a letter or notice. Acknowledging that you have received a document does not mean you accept its contents. If in doubt, write "received without prejudice to my legal rights" next to your signature.
Hour Two: Write Down Everything
While the meeting is fresh, write down exactly what was said. Who was present, what reason was given for your redundancy, whether a selection process was mentioned, what was offered, and what the timeline is. This contemporaneous record is evidence. It may matter significantly if you bring a claim later. Do not trust your memory -- write it down now.
Hour Three: Check Whether the Redundancy Is Genuine
Not every dismissal called a redundancy is a genuine redundancy. The legal definition requires that the requirement for employees to do work of a particular kind has ceased or diminished. If your role is being filled by someone else -- whether internally, externally, or through a contractor -- that is not a redundancy. If you are being replaced by a cheaper employee doing the same job, that is not a redundancy. If the real reason for your dismissal is something other than a genuine reduction in the requirement for your work, the dismissal may be unfair.
Also check: were you the only person considered for redundancy when others doing similar work were not? The selection process must be fair and objective. If you were selected using criteria that appear fair but were actually designed to target you specifically, the selection -- and therefore the dismissal -- may be unfair.
What You Are Entitled to in Any Redundancy
If you have two years of continuous service, you are entitled to statutory redundancy pay. This is calculated using your age, length of service, and weekly pay, which is capped at a set weekly amount (£643 from April 2025). You are entitled to your contractual or statutory notice period, whichever is longer. You are entitled to any accrued but untaken holiday pay. You are entitled to be considered for any suitable alternative vacancies within the organisation. And you are entitled to time off during your notice period to look for new work.
Check your employment contract. Your employer may have agreed to enhanced redundancy terms -- more than the statutory minimum. If so, they must honour them.
The Consultation Requirement
Before your redundancy can be confirmed, your employer must consult with you individually. This is not a formality. Consultation means genuinely engaging with you about the reasons for the redundancy, the selection process if others were at risk, and whether there are alternatives -- including other roles you could move to. A meeting at which you are simply told you are redundant and given a package is not consultation. If the process has been rushed or bypassed, the dismissal may be procedurally unfair regardless of whether the underlying business reason is genuine.
If 20 or more employees are being made redundant within 90 days, collective consultation rules also apply and the minimum consultation period is 30 days (45 days for 100 or more). Failure to follow collective consultation requirements allows affected employees to claim a protective award of up to 90 days pay (now 180 days from 6 April 2026).
Within 48 Hours: Contact ACAS
If you believe your redundancy may be unfair -- whether because the reason is not genuine, the selection was unfair, the process was inadequate, or the calculation is wrong -- contact ACAS at acas.org.uk and start early conciliation. Your time limit for bringing a tribunal claim is three months less one day from your dismissal date. That clock starts the day you are dismissed, not the day your notice ends. The ACAS early conciliation process pauses the clock. Register with ACAS within the first 48 hours to protect your position while you take stock.
Within 48 Hours: Check the Redundancy Pay Calculation
Ask your employer for a written breakdown of how your redundancy pay has been calculated. Check it against the statutory formula: one and a half weeks pay for each complete year of service over age 41, one week for each year between 22 and 40, and half a week for each year under 22. Check that the weekly pay figure used is accurate and that all qualifying years of service have been included. Errors in redundancy pay calculations are common. If the calculation is wrong, you can claim the difference through the employment tribunal.
The Question You Must Ask Before You Leave
Ask your employer in writing: are there any suitable alternative vacancies within the organisation? They are legally required to consider you for these before completing the redundancy. If a suitable vacancy exists and is not offered to you, the redundancy may be unfair. Get the answer in writing. If they say no vacancies exist and one later comes to light, that is significant evidence.