REDUNDANCY - 13.12.2023

Redundancy: refusing to work their notice period

Redundancy notice

If you need to make an employee redundant, not only must you follow a fair and reasonable redundancy procedure, you must give them proper minimum notice to terminate.

By law, once an employee has been continuously employed for one month, they are entitled to receive one week’s notice from you.

Minimum periods

This statutory minimum notice period applies until the employee has been continuously employed by you for two years. Thereafter, the employee is entitled to receive one week’s notice for each complete year of continuous employment up to a maximum of twelve weeks.

However, whilst these are the statutory minimum notice periods, the employment contract may grant the employee enhanced rights.

Reluctant to work

Alternatively, where the employment contract permits, you can make a payment in lieu of notice (PILON) and not require the employee to work out their redundancy notice period (see The next step ). A PILON can be made to cover all or part of the employee’s notice period.

But what’s the situation if the employee who’s being made redundant refuses to work out their redundancy notice period. Can you insist that they do so?

The possible reasons

Before we answer that question, it is worth remembering that there are many reasons why an employee might not want to work out their redundancy notice period.

For example, they may be too upset, feel uncomfortable coming to work or aggrieved about the redundancy or they might have already found another job. Ultimately, if they refuse to work their redundancy notice, you can’t force them to.

PILON sacrificed

That said, where an employee refuses to work out their redundancy notice period, they would not be entitled to receive any normal pay or any contractual PILON.

Sometimes, employees believe that they will automatically receive a PILON regardless of whether they work out their redundancy notice period. So, it’s worth pointing this out.

Tip. Should the employee choose to work out their redundancy notice period, you must pay as normal, including any benefits, bonuses or commissions unless the employment contract states otherwise.

Tip. If you’re making a PILON instead, always write to the employee setting out what you are paying as this will avoid unnecessary queries and misunderstandings (see The next step ).

For a payment in lieu of notice clause and a letter confirming payment in lieu of notice, visit https://www.tips-and-advice.co.uk , Download Zone, year 26, issue 01.