The NES redundancy table
Redundancy pay under the National Employment Standards is a function of one variable: completed years of continuous service. The payment is that many weeks at your base rate — ordinary hours only, no overtime, allowances, loadings or penalties.
| Period of 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 |
Yes, the last row is real: at 10+ years the entitlement drops from 16 weeks to 12. The legislative assumption is that long-serving employees also collect long service leave. If you're approaching 10 years and a restructure is rumoured, those 4 weeks are worth understanding — see our long service leave calculator for what replaces them.
Who the table doesn't cover
No NES redundancy pay for: service under 12 months; small-business employees (fewer than 15 staff, counting regular casuals and associated entities — with industry-award and liquidation exceptions); casuals; fixed-term/seasonal contracts running their course; apprentices; and dismissals for serious misconduct. Notice and unused leave are separate rights and survive most of these exclusions.
What the official tool leaves out — tax
The weeks are only half the answer. A genuine redundancy is tax-free up to an indexed limit, the excess is taxed at ETP rates that depend on your age, and your unused leave is withheld at a flat 32%. Our redundancy payout calculator runs the whole chain — NES weeks in, net-in-your-bank out — and shows every step in between.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the official Fair Work redundancy calculator?
The Fair Work Ombudsman's calculators live at fairwork.gov.au (Pay and Conditions Tool, "P.A.C.T."). It calculates your notice and redundancy entitlement under the NES and your award. This site is independent of it — we implement the same published NES formula and add the tax layer the official tool leaves out.
Why does the official tool not show tax or a net figure?
Because tax is the ATO's jurisdiction, not the Fair Work Ombudsman's. The official tool answers "what am I owed?"; it never answers "what lands in my bank?". Our calculator chains both: NES weeks, then the redundancy tax-free limit and ETP tax.
Is the NES formula the same in every state?
Yes — redundancy pay is federal (the Fair Work Act national employment standards), so the weeks table is identical nationwide. What differs by state is long service leave, which has its own eight separate laws.
Can my award give me more than the NES table?
Yes. Awards and enterprise agreements can provide higher redundancy pay (several construction and coal awards do, including for small-business employees), and employers can offer more contractually. The NES table is the floor, not the ceiling.
Related
- Small business redundancy exemption — who counts toward 15
- What makes a redundancy genuine
- Paying redundancy as an employer
Sources
Figures on this page come from the following primary sources. The date is when we last checked the page against the source.
- Redundancy pay and entitlements (Fair Work Ombudsman), checked 7 August 2026.
- Who doesn't get redundancy pay (Fair Work Ombudsman), checked 24 September 2026.
NES table verified 2026-08-07 against the Fair Work Ombudsman's published entitlements. Independent guide — not a government service.