The statutory redundancy payments scheme allows for higher payments to be made to employees made redundant if they are older or their length of service with their employer is greater. The Government believes that maintaining this approach is justified under EU law because labour market evidence shows that older workers are more likely to be made redundant and have a harder time getting a new job than younger workers. In addition, they believe that it is right that payments by an individual employer should reflect the commitment made by an employee to that particular employer. The age regulations therefore contain an exemption for the statutory redundancy scheme, as well as a further exemption linked to the scheme for an employer who wants to make more generous redundancy payments.
The further exemption allows the employer to:
The employer may also multiply the final total amount calculated, whether with any of the permitted enhancements or not, by a figure of more than one.
The further exemption also allows an employer to make a redundancy payment to an employee who has taken voluntary redundancy, and an employee with less than 2 years' continuous employment. In such cases, where no statutory redundancy payment is required, an employer may make a payment equivalent to the statutory minimum payment, or if they so wish an enhanced payment as above.
