Australia redundancy pay calculator

Under the National Employment Standards (NES) in the Fair Work Act 2009, redundancy pay equals your base rate of pay multiplied by the number of weeks in the NES table for your period of continuous service. For example, 3 years of service entitles you to 7 weeks of base-rate pay.

To qualify for NES redundancy pay you must be employed by a national system employer, have at least 1 year of continuous service, be a permanent employee (not casual), and be made genuinely redundant. Employees of small businesses with fewer than 15 employees are not entitled to NES redundancy pay.

The NES table drops from 16 weeks (9–10 years) to 12 weeks (10+ years) because employees who reach 10 years of service also become entitled to long service leave under state and territory law. The legislature offset the higher long service leave benefit by reducing the NES redundancy weeks. Your total exit package — redundancy pay plus long service leave — is typically higher at 10+ years.

No. The Fair Work Act 2009 exempts employers with fewer than 15 employees from the NES redundancy pay obligation. However, you may still have entitlements under a modern award or enterprise agreement. Contact the Fair Work Ombudsman at fairwork.gov.au for advice.

Genuine redundancy payments receive concessional tax treatment. For 2025–26, the tax-free amount is $11,985 plus $5,994 per completed year of service. Amounts above this threshold are taxed at a maximum rate of 32% (including Medicare levy). Normal income tax applies above the concessional cap.

Yes. In addition to NES redundancy pay, your employer must also pay out all accrued but untaken annual leave (plus any annual leave loading where applicable). Long service leave must also be paid out if you have met the qualifying period under your state or territory legislation.