Redundancy rights sick pay explained clearly can help you understand what may happen if your job is at risk while you are off sick. This guide covers sick pay during consultation and notice, statutory redundancy pay, selection rules, holiday, discrimination and practical steps to take. It also explains when official guidance or regulated legal advice may be appropriate, because the result depends on your contract and individual circumstances.
Can You Be Made Redundant While Off Sick
Being off sick does not usually prevent an employer from proposing or carrying out a genuine redundancy process. Redundancy is generally about the employer’s need for fewer employees, a workplace closure or reduced need for particular work, rather than the employee’s health. However, an employer must still follow a fair process and should not use sickness absence as a pretext for selecting someone unfairly.
The employer should explain why redundancies are being considered, identify the group of roles at risk and consult affected employees before making a final decision. Consultation should be meaningful rather than a decision that has already been made, and may cover alternatives such as suitable vacancies, reduced hours or voluntary redundancy. If enough employees are affected, collective consultation rules may apply, with additional requirements about timing and employee representatives.
A key distinction is whether the role is genuinely disappearing or whether the employer is really concerned about attendance, capability or performance. Those issues normally involve different procedures and should not simply be labelled redundancy. If your absence relates to a disability, the Equality Act 2010 may also require the employer to consider reasonable adjustments, such as amended duties, a phased return or changes to absence procedures, before reaching decisions about your employment.
How Sick Pay Works During Redundancy
Your sick pay during a redundancy process depends on the reason for absence, your contract and the employer’s policy. You might receive contractual sick pay, Statutory Sick Pay if you meet the current conditions, or no further sick pay if an entitlement has ended. The rules and rates can change, so check the latest information on GOV.UK and your written statement of employment rather than relying on a general figure.
If you remain employed during consultation, the normal sickness reporting rules usually continue to apply. You should follow the employer’s process for notifying absence and providing fit notes, even if you believe your job will disappear. Failing to follow those rules could create a separate conduct or attendance issue, although an employer should consider the reasons for any failure and apply its procedures consistently.
If your employment ends while you are sick, the treatment of pay during the notice period can be particularly important. Check whether notice is worked, paid instead of worked or affected by contractual sick pay rules, and ask the employer to set out the calculation in writing. Notice pay, contractual sick pay and Statutory Sick Pay are separate issues, so one entitlement should not automatically be assumed to replace another. If the figures conflict with your contract or payslip, seek advice promptly.
Redundancy Pay Notice and Holiday Rights
If you are eligible, statutory redundancy pay is usually based on age, completed years of continuous employment and a week’s pay, subject to legal limits that change over time. Eligibility commonly depends on having the required minimum period of continuous service, but there are exceptions and contractual schemes may provide more than the statutory minimum. The employer should provide a written calculation showing the service period, weekly pay used and any contractual enhancement.
Notice is separate from redundancy pay. Your employment contract may provide a longer notice period than the statutory minimum, and the employer may ask you to work it, place you on garden leave or make a payment instead. Sickness can affect the practical arrangements and the amount due, particularly where contractual terms apply, so compare the employer’s calculation with your contract and keep copies of payslips and correspondence.
Untaken statutory holiday normally has to be paid when employment ends, including holiday accrued while you were off sick. Long-term sickness can affect how holiday carries over, and the calculation may involve regular elements of pay rather than basic salary alone. Redundancy pay, notice pay and accrued holiday pay should appear as distinct items in your final paperwork. Check deductions, pension treatment and tax with the employer, and consider independent advice if the breakdown is unclear.
Fair Selection and Disability Protections
Employers often use a selection pool and scoring criteria when more than one role could be made redundant. Typical criteria include relevant skills, qualifications, performance, disciplinary record and length of service, but the criteria should be objective, explained and applied consistently. A score based directly on sickness absence may be unlawful in some circumstances, particularly where absence is connected to a disability or pregnancy-related condition.
The Equality Act protects workers from discrimination because of disability, and some long-term physical or mental health conditions may qualify even if the person does not use that label. Disability-related absence may need to be treated differently from ordinary absence, and a reasonable adjustment could include discounting some absence from a redundancy score. The employer should gather relevant medical or occupational health information lawfully and should not demand unnecessary detail.
If you think your selection was influenced by illness, disability, pregnancy or another protected characteristic, write down what happened and when. Save consultation notes, scoring documents, medical evidence, emails and details of comparable employees who were treated differently. Objective selection criteria and reasonable adjustments are central questions in many disputes, but only an employment solicitor, trade union representative or other suitably qualified adviser can assess whether the facts support a formal claim.
What to Do If You Are Selected
Start by asking for the proposal in writing. Request the reason for the redundancy, the proposed timetable, the selection pool, your scores, the available alternatives and the calculation of notice and redundancy pay. You can ask for a companion at a formal consultation or meeting where the law or your workplace policy gives that right, and a trade union representative or colleague may help you record the discussion.
Do not sign a settlement agreement or voluntary redundancy form immediately if you do not understand it. A valid settlement agreement normally requires independent advice from an appropriate adviser, and the document may waive potential claims in return for agreed terms. Ask about the proposed payment, tax treatment, references, pension, holiday, restrictive covenants and the deadline for accepting, because the wording can affect your future options.
Keep a timeline of absence, medical appointments, consultation meetings and every payment received. If you believe the process is discriminatory or unfair, raise the issue through the employer’s grievance or appeal procedure where appropriate, while remembering that employment tribunal time limits are short and usually involve contacting Acas for early conciliation first. Searches for practical support may also include unrelated local topics such as a renting a flat step by step guide, energy bills Birmingham or consumer rights Leeds, but those sources cannot establish your employment rights; use GOV.UK, Acas, your union or regulated legal advice for this issue.
Key Takeaways
You can potentially be made redundant while off sick, but the employer must have a genuine redundancy reason and follow a fair consultation and selection process. Sickness absence should not be used as a disguise for capability management or as a discriminatory reason for selection. A disability may trigger duties to consider reasonable adjustments, and pregnancy-related or disability-related absence can require particular care.
Check each part of your entitlement separately: sick pay while employed, pay during notice, statutory or contractual redundancy pay, and payment for untaken holiday. Compare the written calculation with your contract, payslips and the current GOV.UK rules, because statutory rates, caps and eligibility conditions can change. Do not assume that being signed off sick removes your duty to report absence or provide required medical evidence.
In short, get the redundancy proposal in writing, preserve evidence and check deadlines before accepting terms. Speak to your trade union, Acas or an employment solicitor regulated through the appropriate professional system if the case involves disability, a disputed calculation, a settlement agreement or possible discrimination. This article is general information from an independent publication, not a formal legal assessment, and the relevant department, employer or tribunal will decide matters according to the facts and current law.