Redundancy Pay

Most employees in WA work for companies and are in the national (Fair Work) system. Their minimum redundancy pay comes from the National Employment Standards, and an award, enterprise agreement or contract may give more.

If you work for a sole trader, a partnership, a trust run by individuals, a WA local council or the WA public sector, you are probably in the WA state system. The Minimum Conditions of Employment Act 1993 (WA) does not give redundancy pay, but the WAIRC's Termination, Change and Redundancy General Order does. If your employer has 15 or more employees and you have at least 1 year's service, you are entitled to severance pay on top of notice, from 4 weeks' pay (1 to 2 years' service) up to 16 weeks' pay (9 to 10 years), and 12 weeks' pay for 10 years or more. Casual and contract employees, probationers, apprentices and trainees, and employees dismissed for serious misconduct are excluded. Your WA award or industrial agreement may give more, or require severance even from a smaller employer. See the WA Government's guide to redundancy. WA public sector employees have their own redundancy scheme. The Minimum Conditions of Employment Act 1993 (WA) does require your employer to tell you about the decision and discuss it with you, and to give you up to 8 hours' paid leave to attend job interviews (ss 41 and 43). See minimum conditions in the WA state system.

Under the Fair Work Act you are not entitled to redundancy pay under the National Employment Standards if:

• you had less than 12 months' continuous service (casual service does not count) when notice was given or the employment ended (s 121);
• your employer is a small business employer, with fewer than 15 employees, counting associated entities and regular casuals (ss 23 and 121). But since 15 December 2023, if a larger employer shrinks below 15 employees because of insolvency in the 6 months before it goes into liquidation or bankruptcy, the employees it lets go in that period can still be entitled (s 121);
• you are a casual employee (s 123);
• you were employed for a specified period, task or season, unless a substantial reason for employing you that way was to avoid paying redundancy (s 123). A fixed-term contract that breaks the 2-year limit is treated as having no end date (s 333G). See fixed-term contracts;
• you were dismissed for serious misconduct (s 123); or
• an industry-specific redundancy scheme in your award applies to you instead (s 123).

Your employer can ask the Fair Work Commission to reduce your redundancy pay, even to nil, if it found you other acceptable employment or cannot afford to pay (s 120). If your job is transferred to a new employer that recognises your service, or you reject an offer from that new employer on substantially similar and overall no less favourable terms, you may not be entitled to redundancy pay from the old employer (s 122).