Workplace Issues.

To qualify for statutory redundancy pay you must be an employee with at least two years' continuous service. The amount is calculated using a formula based on your age, length of service, and weekly pay — subject to a statutory cap of £751 per week from 6 April 2026. The multiplier per year of service is half a week's pay for each year worked under age 22, one week's pay for each year worked between 22 and 40, and one and a half week's pay for each year worked aged 41 or over. Service is capped at 20 years, giving a maximum statutory payment of £22,530. Your employer may pay more than the statutory minimum — check your contract. Statutory redundancy pay up to £30,000 is tax-free.

Dismissal for making a protected disclosure is automatically unfair under the Employment Rights Act 1996. There is no minimum length of service required — you can bring a claim from day one of employment. There is also no cap on the compensatory award, unlike ordinary unfair dismissal. If you are dismissed for whistleblowing, you can apply to the employment tribunal for interim relief — a powerful remedy that, if granted, requires the employer to continue paying your salary until the case is heard. An application for interim relief must be made within seven days of dismissal, so taking legal advice immediately after dismissal is essential. Whistleblowing dismissal claims are among the most potent in employment law.

The time limit for bringing an unfair dismissal claim to the employment tribunal is three months less one day from the effective date of termination — the date your employment actually ended. This is a strict deadline: tribunals have very limited discretion to extend it, and late claims are routinely rejected. Before submitting a claim, you must also notify ACAS and go through early conciliation — which pauses the limitation clock while conciliation is attempted. Given the tight timescale, taking legal advice as soon as possible after dismissal is strongly recommended. Do not wait to see whether an internal appeal resolves the matter before seeking advice — the clock is running regardless.

Constructive dismissal claims are among the harder employment claims to succeed with. The employee must prove the fundamental breach, that they resigned in response to it, and that they did not affirm it by continuing to work — all on the balance of probabilities. Tribunals are sceptical of claims where the employee simply decided they were unhappy and resigned. Success rates are lower than for ordinary unfair dismissal claims. That said, strong constructive dismissal cases — particularly those involving clear breaches such as significant pay cuts, serious unaddressed harassment, or demonstrable bad faith by the employer — do succeed. Taking an honest assessment of the strength of your case before resigning, with legal advice, is the single most important step you can take.

Not necessarily — employers offer settlement agreements for a wide range of reasons, including avoiding the cost and management time of tribunal proceedings, achieving a clean break, protecting confidential information, or as a standard part of a redundancy or restructuring process. An offer does not automatically signal that the employer believes it would lose at tribunal. That said, the terms on offer — particularly the financial amount — can reflect the employer's assessment of risk. Taking legal advice on the strength of your position before responding helps you distinguish between an offer that is genuinely generous and one that significantly undervalues your claims.

The Equality Act 2010 sets out nine protected characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. Discrimination, harassment, or victimisation related to any of these characteristics is unlawful in the workplace — covering recruitment, terms of employment, promotion, training, dismissal, and everything in between. The protections apply to employees, workers, and in many cases job applicants. Some characteristics — particularly disability — attract additional rights, such as the duty to make reasonable adjustments. Understanding which characteristic is engaged is the starting point for any discrimination claim.

Discrimination and harassment compensation has no statutory cap — unlike unfair dismissal. It covers financial loss (lost earnings, future loss, and pension), injury to feelings, and in some cases personal injury where psychiatric harm is established. Injury to feelings awards follow the Vento bands, updated periodically by the Employment Appeal Tribunal: lower band for less serious cases, middle band for serious cases, and upper band for the most serious — currently ranging from a few thousand pounds to over £50,000 for the most severe cases. Aggravated damages may be awarded where the employer's conduct was high-handed or oppressive. From October 2026, a compensation uplift of up to 25% may apply where an employer failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment.

A settlement agreement is a legally binding contract between an employer and an employee that resolves disputes or ends employment on agreed terms. In exchange for a financial payment — and sometimes other benefits such as an agreed reference or extended notice — the employee agrees to waive specified legal claims against the employer. For a settlement agreement to be legally valid, the employee must receive independent legal advice from a qualified adviser before signing. Settlement agreements are used in a wide range of circumstances: redundancy, disciplinary proceedings, performance management, restructuring, and where an ongoing employment relationship has simply broken down. Once signed, the agreed claims cannot be pursued in the employment tribunal or courts.