Rates verified: 4 September 2026 · Sources: Fair Work Ombudsman
Australia · NES Redundancy
Work out your statutory redundancy pay and notice period under the National Employment Standards, by years of service.
NES entitlement breakdown
Enter your pay and years of service to see your NES entitlement.
| Continuous service | Redundancy pay |
|---|---|
| Less than 1 year | Nil |
| 1 year – under 2 years | 4 weeks |
| 2 – under 3 years | 6 weeks |
| 3 – under 4 years | 7 weeks |
| 4 – under 5 years | 8 weeks |
| 5 – under 6 years | 10 weeks |
| 6 – under 7 years | 11 weeks |
| 7 – under 8 years | 13 weeks |
| 8 – under 9 years | 14 weeks |
| 9 – under 10 years | 16 weeks |
| 10 years or more | 12 weeks |
Yes, that drop from 16 to 12 weeks at the 10-year mark is real, not a typo. It's a deliberate, well-documented feature of the NES table that's been in place since the standard was introduced, and it catches out a lot of long-tenure employees who assume the entitlement keeps climbing. See the Fair Work Ombudsman's redundancy pay and entitlements page for the primary source on this table.
| Continuous service | Minimum notice |
|---|---|
| 1 year or less | 1 week |
| More than 1 – 3 years | 2 weeks |
| More than 3 – 5 years | 3 weeks |
| More than 5 years | 4 weeks |
Add an extra week if you're over 45 years old and have completed at least 2 years of service at the time notice is given. Notice can be worked out, paid in lieu, or a mix of both, at the employer's choice.
A "small business employer" for this purpose is one with fewer than 15 employees at the time notice of redundancy is given (counted across all associated entities, not per location). Small business employers are exempt from the NES redundancy pay obligation entirely, though notice of termination still applies at the standard rates above regardless of business size. Some awards or registered agreements impose redundancy obligations on small businesses anyway, so this exemption is a floor, not a guarantee you'll get nothing.
On a $1,500 ordinary weekly pay: an employee with 2 years' service (under 45) gets 2 weeks' notice + 6 weeks' redundancy pay = 8 weeks = $12,000. An employee with 6 years' service, aged 50, gets 4 weeks' notice + 1 extra week (age 45+, 2+ years' service) + 11 weeks' redundancy pay = 16 weeks = $24,000. An employee with 12 years' service, aged 55, gets 4 weeks' notice + 1 extra week + 12 weeks' redundancy pay (the post-10-year rate) = 17 weeks = $25,500, noticeably less per additional year than the 9-year mark would suggest.
A genuine redundancy payment is tax-free up to a limit made up of a base amount plus an amount for each completed year of service, both indexed annually to wages growth. For 2026-27 that's $13,598 plus $6,801 per completed year of service, so a 10-year employee has a tax-free limit of $81,608. Amounts above that limit are taxed as an employment termination payment (ETP) at concessional rates rather than your marginal rate, subject to a separate $270,000 ETP cap. This tax-free treatment only applies to a genuine redundancy under the ATO's specific definition, not every payment labelled "redundancy" by an employer. Work out the tax on your specific payout with the ETP & Redundancy Tax Calculator.
Once you have your total payout, estimate the tax on any amount above the tax-free redundancy limit with the Income Tax Calculator, and check how your notice period and any accrued long service leave interact using the Leave, Notice & Long Service Leave Calculator.