Pay & Employment
Redundancy Pay Calculator
NES redundancy pay: weeks for your years of continuous service times your weekly base pay, with the small business rule.
Result
Updates as you typeNES redundancy pay
$19,500.00
- Continuous service
- 7 years, 7 months, 23 days
- Redundancy pay period
- 13 weeks
- Weekly base pay
- $1,500.00
How it's calculated
When a job is made redundant, the National Employment Standards (Fair Work Act 2009, s 119) give the employee a number of weeks of pay set by their continuous service, paid at the base rate of pay for ordinary hours. The entitlement starts at 12 months of service and does not apply to small business employers (fewer than 15 employees).
Worked example
An employee who started on 4 March 2019, made redundant with a last day of 30 October 2026, on $1,500.00 a week, at a business with 50 staff:
- Continuous service: 7 years, 7 months, 27 days → 7 completed years
- Scale: at least 7 but less than 8 years = 13 weeks
- Redundancy pay: 13 × $1,500.00 = $19,500.00
NES redundancy pay scale
| Continuous service | Redundancy pay |
|---|---|
| At least 1 but less than 2 years | 4 weeks |
| At least 2 but less than 3 years | 6 weeks |
| At least 3 but less than 4 years | 7 weeks |
| At least 4 but less than 5 years | 8 weeks |
| At least 5 but less than 6 years | 10 weeks |
| At least 6 but less than 7 years | 11 weeks |
| At least 7 but less than 8 years | 13 weeks |
| At least 8 but less than 9 years | 14 weeks |
| At least 9 but less than 10 years | 16 weeks |
| At least 10 years | 12 weeks |
Frequently asked questions
How many weeks of redundancy pay do I get?
The NES scale runs from 4 weeks for at least 1 but less than 2 years of continuous service up to 16 weeks for at least 9 but less than 10 years, then 12 weeks for 10 years or more. Under 1 year of service there is no NES redundancy pay. Each week is paid at your base rate of pay for ordinary hours.
Why does redundancy pay drop at 10 years?
The scale falls from 16 weeks (9 to 10 years) to 12 weeks (10 years and over) by design, following the 2004 Redundancy Case decision, on the basis that long-serving employees also have long service leave. Awards and agreements can provide more.
Do small businesses have to pay redundancy?
No. A small business employer, one with fewer than 15 employees counted at the time, is not required to pay NES redundancy pay. Some awards contain industry-specific redundancy schemes that apply anyway; check yours.
What counts as the weekly base pay?
Your base rate of pay for your ordinary hours of work: it excludes overtime, penalty rates, loadings, allowances and bonuses. For a part-time employee it is the pay for their ordinary part-time hours.
Is redundancy pay taxed?
A genuine redundancy payment is tax-free up to a limit that depends on your years of service and changes each year; the part above the limit is taxed as an employment termination payment. This calculator shows the gross NES amount only; the ATO publishes the current tax-free limit.
Who is not entitled to NES redundancy pay?
Casual employees, employees with less than 12 months' continuous service, employees of small business employers, apprentices and employees on a fixed-term contract that ends at its agreed time, among others. The period of notice does not count towards service for redundancy.
Sources
NES minimum for employees of non-small-business employers; awards, agreements and contracts can provide more, and some employees are excluded. The tax-free limit is not calculated. Results are for guidance only.
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