Redundancy Calculator

Work out your redundancy pay under the National Employment Standards, the notice your employer must give, and how much of the payment is tax-free as a genuine redundancy in 2026-27. Redundancy pay is a set number of weeks at your base rate, from 4 weeks after one year of service to 16 after nine and 12 from ten, and the ATO lets $13,598 plus $6,801 for each completed year of service through without tax.

Your details

Completed years of continuous service

Leave out casual service. Unpaid leave does not count towards redundancy pay.

Months past the last full year

0 to 11. It changes the notice period, not the redundancy pay.

Base pay a week

Your base rate for ordinary hours. On a salary, divide it by 52. Leave out overtime, penalties, allowances, loadings and bonuses.

Redundancy pay above the NES, if any

Extra severance from an award, agreement or contract, or pay in lieu of notice your employer counts as part of the redundancy payment.

I am over 45I will be 60 or over on 30 June 2027My employer has fewer than 15 employeesI am a casual

Redundancy payment after tax withheld

$16,500.00

NES redundancy pay: 11 weeks
At your base pay: $16,500.00
Redundancy payment before tax: $16,500.00
Tax-free limit, 6 completed years: $54,404
Tax-free part: $16,500.00
Taxable part, an ETP: $0.00
Withheld on the ETP at 32%: $0
Redundancy payment after tax withheld: $16,500.00
Minimum notice under the NES: 4 weeks
Pay in lieu of notice, at least: $6,000.00

The whole payment is under the tax-free limit for a genuine redundancy, so nothing is withheld from it. Unused annual leave and long service leave are paid on top and taxed separately.

Worked examples, with the arithmetic.

The same sums the tool runs, on real figures. Every number below is computed by the tested engine from the published rates, so the prose and the tool can never disagree.

What is the redundancy pay for 6 years on $1,500 a week?

6 completed years             = 11 weeks under s 119
11 weeks x $1,500             = $16,500
$13,598 + 6 x $6,801          = $54,404 tax-free limit
$16,500 is under the limit    = nothing withheld

Six completed years of continuous service is 11 weeks under the National Employment Standards, so $1,500 a week of base pay gives $16,500. The 2026-27 tax-free limit for 6 years is $54,404, so as a genuine redundancy the whole payment is tax-free and nothing is withheld. Notice is separate: 4 weeks, worked or paid out.

What is withheld from an $80,000 redundancy package after 6 years?

$80,000 - $54,404             = $25,596 taxable, an ETP
$25,596 x 32%                 = $8,191 withheld under 60
$25,596 x 17%                 = $4,351 withheld at 60 or over
$80,000 - $8,191              = $71,809 after withholding

The first $54,404 is tax-free and the remaining $25,596 is an employment termination payment. Under preservation age the employer withholds 32% of it, $8,191, which leaves $71,809. For someone who is 60 or over on 30 June 2027 the rate is 17% and $4,351 is withheld. Both are far under the $270,000 ETP cap, above which 47% applies.

Why is 10 years of service worth less than 9?

9 years: 16 weeks x $1,500    = $24,000
10 years: 12 weeks x $1,500   = $18,000
difference                    = $6,000 less

The National Employment Standards pay 16 weeks at 9 years and 12 weeks from 10 years, so the same $1,500 a week falls from $24,000 to $18,000. Fair Work says the drop is there because long service leave is usually paid out at the same time after 10 years of service. The tax-free limit keeps rising with service regardless.

How does the ATO work out its own Schedule 11 redundancy example?

$13,598 + 5 x $6,801          = $47,603 tax-free limit
$48,000 - $47,603             = $397 taxable, an ETP
$397 x 32%                    = $127 withheld

The ATO's example is Alec, 30, made redundant after 5 years with a $48,000 genuine redundancy payment. $47,603 of it is tax-free, the $397 above the limit is an ETP, and 32% of that is $127, rounded to the nearest dollar. This calculator reproduces all three figures, and they are part of its test suite.

Is this accurate, and how does it work?

The method is published rather than described. Nothing here is a black box, and the limits are listed as plainly as the workings.

1Count completed years of continuous service. Redundancy pay turns on your continuous service when employment ends, and only whole years count, so 5 years and 11 months is paid as 5 years. Fair Work says unpaid leave does not count towards that service, though it does not break it either, and section 119(3) leaves out time worked as a casual. Months past the last full year matter for notice, which is why the calculator asks for them.
2Read the weeks off the section 119 table. The Fair Work Act sets 4 weeks from 1 year, 6 weeks from 2 years, 7 weeks from 3 years, 8 weeks from 4 years, 10 weeks from 5 years, 11 weeks from 6 years, 13 weeks from 7 years, 14 weeks from 8 years, 16 weeks from 9 years and 12 weeks from 10 years. The fall at 10 years is deliberate: Fair Work says that after 10 years of service, long service leave is usually paid out at the same time.
3Pay each week at the base rate for ordinary hours. Section 119(2) pays the weeks at your base rate of pay for your ordinary hours. Incentive payments and bonuses, loadings, allowances, overtime, penalty rates and any other separately identifiable amounts are left out. If you are paid by the hour, the Hourly Rate Calculator turns an hourly rate into the weekly figure.
4Check that the NES applies to you. There is no NES redundancy pay with under 12 months of service, from a small business employer with fewer than 15 employees, or for casuals, fixed-term, task and seasonal employees, apprentices, trainees employed only for their training arrangement, or anyone dismissed for serious misconduct. Some awards carry their own industry scheme instead, including the Black Coal, Building and Construction, Joinery, Manufacturing, Plumbing and Timber awards, and an enterprise agreement can include its own redundancy terms. Earning above the High Income Threshold 2026-27 is not one of the exclusions: that threshold governs unfair dismissal and award coverage, not the NES.
5Add notice separately. Notice under section 117 depends on your service at the end of the day notice is given: 1 week for up to 1 year, 2 weeks for more than 1 and up to 3 years, 3 weeks for more than 3 and up to 5, and 4 weeks for more than 5. Add 1 week if you are over 45 with at least 2 years of service. A payment instead of notice must be at your full rate of pay, including loadings, allowances, overtime and penalty rates, so the base pay figure shown is a floor. The Notice Period Calculator works the notice out on its own, for a dismissal as well as a redundancy, and the notice you owe if you resign instead.
6Split the payment at the tax-free limit. For a genuine redundancy in 2026-27, the first $13,598 plus $6,801 for each completed year of service is tax-free and is not part of your employment termination payment. The ATO excludes unused annual leave, leave loading, long service leave, wages owed and payments in lieu of super from the redundancy payment, so none of those use up the limit.
7Withhold on the rest as an ETP. Anything above the limit is an employment termination payment. Because it comes from a genuine redundancy it is an excluded payment, so only the $270,000 ETP cap applies, not the whole-of-income cap. Schedule 11 withholds 32% up to the cap if you are under 60 on 30 June 2027, 17% if you are 60 or over, and 47% on anything above the cap, rounded to the nearest dollar. The rates include the 2% Medicare levy.

What this does not cover.

It calculates the National Employment Standards minimum. Awards with their own industry scheme and enterprise agreements with redundancy terms can pay differently, so check yours, starting from the Award Pay Rates hub if you are not sure which award applies.
It assumes the redundancy is genuine for tax. It does not model a non-genuine redundancy, an approved early retirement scheme, an invalidity payment or a payment at or over age pension age, which are taxed differently. The ETP Tax Calculator works out the tax withheld from a non-genuine redundancy payment and the other ETPs a job can end with.
It does not calculate unused annual leave, leave loading or long service leave paid out on termination, or the tax on them. The Final Pay Calculator puts them in one final pay with the redundancy payment. The Long Service Leave Calculator works out the long service leave a job owes when it ends and the tax withheld from it. The Leave Loading Calculator works out the loading on a period of leave.
Notice pay is shown at your base pay as a floor. A payment in lieu of notice is owed at the full rate of pay, and whether it is taxed inside the genuine redundancy payment depends on your employment conditions.
One figure for years of service drives both the Fair Work entitlement and the ATO limit. Fair Work leaves unpaid leave and casual service out of continuous service for redundancy pay, while the ATO counts each year of service completed with the employer, so the two can differ.
Tax is Schedule 11 withholding on a payment made in 2026-27. It assumes this is the only termination payment for the job and the only one in the income year, and it is not your final tax, which is worked out in your tax return.
It does not model Fair Work Commission reductions under section 120, transfers of business under section 122, or relocation.
It is not the Fair Work Notice and Redundancy Calculator, which reads your award. Use that to check what your employer has worked out.

Where these figures come from.

Fair Work Ombudsman, Redundancy pay, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-06-25. Retrieved 2026-09-19.
Fair Work Ombudsman, Who doesn't get redundancy pay, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-03-19. Retrieved 2026-09-19.
Fair Work Ombudsman, Dismissal: minimum notice period, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-08-28. Retrieved 2026-09-19.
ATO, Employment termination payments: ETP cap and genuine redundancy tax-free limits, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-04-17. Retrieved 2026-09-19.
ATO, Schedule 11, tax table for employment termination payments, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-06-17. Retrieved 2026-09-19.

Every rate this site uses is listed on the Methodology page.

Common questions.

How is redundancy pay calculated in Australia?

Under the National Employment Standards it is a number of weeks set by your completed years of continuous service, paid at your base rate for ordinary hours. The weeks run from 4 after one year to 16 after nine, then 12 from ten. Bonuses, loadings, allowances, overtime and penalty rates are left out. On $1,500 a week, 6 years of service is 11 weeks, or $16,500.

Do I get redundancy pay with less than a year of service?

Not under the National Employment Standards. Section 121(1)(a) of the Fair Work Act excludes anyone with under 12 months of continuous service, and Fair Work’s own example is Fred, a part-time employee of 7 months, who gets none. Notice still applies, at least 1 week worked or paid out, and unused annual leave is paid out in the final pay.

Is redundancy pay tax free?

Up to a limit, if the redundancy is genuine. In 2026-27 the tax-free part is $13,598 plus $6,801 for each completed year of service, so 5 years gives $47,603 and 10 years gives $81,608. It covers the redundancy payment itself, not unused annual leave or long service leave, and only the amount above the limit is taxed.

How is a redundancy payment taxed above the tax-free limit?

The excess is an employment termination payment. For a genuine redundancy only the ETP cap applies, $270,000 in 2026-27, and your employer withholds 32% up to it, or 17% if you are 60 or over on 30 June 2027. Anything above the cap is withheld at 47%. The rates include the Medicare levy, and the final tax on the payment is settled in your tax return.

What makes a redundancy genuine for tax?

The ATO treats it as genuine when your employer decides your job no longer exists and ends your employment, and you are under age pension age on the day of dismissal. Asking for volunteers first does not change that, as long as it is still the employer’s decision to end the job. It is not genuine if you are dismissed for reaching normal retirement age, leave voluntarily, reach the end of a contract, or are dismissed for disciplinary or inefficiency reasons. A non-genuine payment has no tax-free part and is taxed as an ETP under the smaller of the ETP cap and the $180,000 whole-of-income cap, which your other taxable income reduces. Age pension age is 67 for anyone born from 1 January 1957, and the Age Pension Calculator estimates the pension, and any wages on top, from then.

Do small businesses have to pay redundancy?

Not under the National Employment Standards. An employer with fewer than 15 employees at the time is a small business employer and is exempt, counting full-time and part-time staff, regular casuals, employees of associated entities and the people being made redundant. The exceptions are an employer that is bankrupt or in liquidation and became small by making staff redundant, and an industry scheme in an award or agreement that covers small businesses. Notice and unused leave are still owed.

Do casual employees get redundancy pay?

Not under the National Employment Standards. Section 123(1)(c) of the Fair Work Act takes casual employees out of both notice and redundancy pay, and section 119(3) leaves casual service out of the continuous service redundancy pay is counted on. Fair Work states that casuals do not get them even if they work regularly for a long time. Casuals are paid a casual loading or a casual rate, which the Casual Loading Calculator puts a figure on.

How much notice do I get if I am made redundant?

Section 117 of the Fair Work Act sets it by your service at the end of the day notice is given: 1 week for up to 1 year, 2 weeks for more than 1 and up to 3 years, 3 weeks for more than 3 and up to 5, and 4 weeks for more than 5. Add 1 week if you are over 45 with at least 2 years of service. Notice is on top of redundancy pay, and if it is paid out it must be at your full rate of pay, not the base rate.

Is pay in lieu of notice part of the tax-free amount?

It can be. The ATO lists payment in lieu of notice among the amounts a genuine redundancy payment may include, depending on your employment conditions. The test is whether it is more than you would have been paid for leaving voluntarily: in the ATO’s own worked example, notice pay that the workplace agreement paid on any departure was a separate, non-excluded ETP under the whole-of-income cap, not part of the genuine redundancy. Enter notice pay as pay above the NES only if your employer counts it in the redundancy payment.

Is unused annual leave paid out on redundancy?

Yes. Fair Work says outstanding entitlements, including unused annual leave and long service leave, are paid out with redundancy pay, and the Annual Leave Calculator works out the balance and what it is worth. The ATO excludes those payments from the genuine redundancy payment, so they do not use up the tax-free limit and are taxed on their own rules. Unused sick leave is not paid out under the National Employment Standards, as the Sick Leave Calculator explains.

Can my employer pay less than the NES redundancy amount?

Only with the Fair Work Commission’s approval. Under section 120 an employer can apply to have NES redundancy pay reduced, even to nil, if it finds you other acceptable employment or cannot pay. That route is only open where the entitlement comes from the NES, not from an award or enterprise agreement. Separately, under section 122 you lose NES redundancy pay if you turn down a job with an employer taking over the business on terms no less favourable overall that recognises your service, although the Commission can order it paid if that operates unfairly.

Related pages.

Notice Period CalculatorHow much notice to give when you resign, from the clause in 25 awards, and the notice your employer must give under the NES, with pay in lieu and its tax.
Annual Leave CalculatorWork out an annual leave payout when you leave a job: your unused hours at the base rate, any leave loading, and the tax withheld under Schedule 7 for 2026-27.
Sick Leave CalculatorWork out paid sick and carer's leave accrued under the National Employment Standards: 10 days a year full-time, pro rata part-time, in hours, days and dollars.
Income Tax CalculatorWork out income tax, the Medicare levy and the low income tax offset on any salary for 2026-27, with the bracket-by-bracket working shown.
Hourly Rate CalculatorConvert an hourly rate to a weekly, fortnightly or annual salary and back again, with take-home pay after income tax and the Medicare levy.
Award Pay RatesModern award minimum pay rates by industry, how classification levels and pay points work, and how casual loading and penalty rates change what you earn.

Every calculator on this site is listed on the Wage Calculator page.