What to Do After Redundancy

Being made redundant is unsettling even when you saw it coming, and the first few days can feel like a lot of decisions arriving at once. They do not all need making immediately. What helps most is knowing the order: check the process, secure the money you are owed, claim what you are entitled to, and only then start thinking hard about what comes next.

This guide walks through those steps for the Humber. The legal points are general and drawn from GOV.UK; if your situation is complicated, Acas, Citizens Advice or a union representative can advise on the specifics.

Step one: check the process has been fair

Redundancy is a type of dismissal, and employers have to follow rules. GOV.UK sets out that you must be selected in a fair way, for example on experience or capability, and cannot be selected because of age, gender, disability or pregnancy. You are entitled to a consultation with your employer about the reasons and any alternatives. Where 20 or more people are being made redundant at once, the consultation must start at least 30 days before any dismissals take effect, rising to 45 days where 100 or more are affected.

Two further rights are easy to miss. If you are offered alternative work in the organisation, you have the right to a four-week trial period in it. And if you have been employed for two years by the end of your notice period, you are allowed a reasonable amount of paid time off to look for work or arrange training, though the employer only has to pay up to 40% of one week’s pay for it. The Acas guide to your rights during redundancy and Citizens Advice both cover how to challenge a redundancy you believe is not genuine or was unfairly applied.

Step two: understand what you should be paid

Statutory redundancy pay applies if you have two or more years of continuous service as an employee. GOV.UK’s redundancy pay guidance sets the calculation: half a week’s pay for each full year of service under the age of 22, one week’s pay for each full year aged 22 to 40, and one and a half weeks’ pay for each full year aged 41 or over. Length of service is capped at 20 years and weekly pay is capped at £751 for redundancies from 6 April 2026, giving a maximum statutory payment of £22,530. The GOV.UK redundancy pay calculator does the sums for you. Some employers pay more under their own scheme; ask.

On top of that you are owed notice. The statutory minimum is one week’s notice for each year of service between two and 12 years, up to a maximum of 12 weeks, and your contract may give more. Your employer can end employment immediately with payment in lieu of notice if the contract allows it, in which case you should receive full basic pay for the notice period. Untaken holiday must be paid too. Ask for a written breakdown of everything, and keep it.

Step three: sort the money out early

Before anything else, write down what is coming in, what is going out and how long the redundancy payment and notice pay will cover it. It is an uncomfortable half hour and it removes a lot of vague dread. If there are debts, contact lenders before you miss a payment rather than after; most have hardship processes. The GOV.UK guidance on redundancy, finding work and claiming benefits points to free debt and budgeting advice through MoneyHelper, and Citizens Advice offices across Hull, Grimsby, Scunthorpe and the East Riding offer the same in person.

Step four: claim what you are entitled to

Claim promptly, because payments are not backdated to the day you lost your job. There are two main routes:

• New Style Jobseeker’s Allowance is based on your National Insurance contributions over the last two to three years. It can be paid for up to 182 days, and your savings and any partner’s income do not affect it. See GOV.UK’s JSA page.
• Universal Credit is means-tested and available if you are under State Pension age and have £16,000 or less in savings and investments. It usually takes around five weeks to get the first payment, though you can apply for an advance in the meantime. It can be claimed alongside New Style JSA. See GOV.UK’s Universal Credit eligibility page.

Separately, Jobcentre Plus runs a Rapid Response Service for people facing redundancy. GOV.UK states you can contact it if you suspect you are going to be made redundant, during your notice period, or up to 13 weeks afterwards, and it can help with CVs, job searching, training and, during the notice period, some costs such as travel or equipment. Details are on GOV.UK’s page on getting help finding a new job; your nearest Jobcentre Plus can also make the referral.

Step five: take stock before you apply

Once the immediate practicalities are handled, give yourself a little time. Redundancy often lands in sectors that are contracting while others nearby are growing, and the Humber is a clear example: the region’s offshore wind, ports, process and healthcare employers have been hiring while other industries have shed jobs. Our sector guides show which employers are actively recruiting, and our guide to finding a job in the Humber explains why applying directly to the large regional employers tends to work better than relying on job boards alone.

Update your CV with the redundancy stated plainly and without apology; it is common and employers do not hold it against you. If you are considering a different line of work, our CV tips for career changers and switching careers after 30 guides cover how to present a move.

Step six: consider retraining

Several funded routes exist for adults, and the Humber has an unusually strong training base to deliver them.

• Skills Bootcamps are courses of up to 16 weeks for people aged 19 and over, and the government’s Skills for Careers guidance states that you are guaranteed a job interview with an employer on completion. Locally they cover areas such as HGV driving, engineering and digital skills. See the Skills Bootcamps page.
• Free Courses for Jobs funds a first full Level 3 qualification in a range of subjects, and a Level 2 in construction, engineering or manufacturing, for those aged 19 and over who are unemployed or earn below £25,750. See GOV.UK’s guidance.
• Local providers. HETA trains around 600 Level 3 engineering apprentices a year and works with 400-plus partner companies, most of them in the Humber; CATCH delivers process and energy training near Immingham; and TEC Partnership and Hull College run adult courses from Level 2 upwards. Our apprenticeships hub covers the routes, and adult apprenticeships are far more common in the region than many people assume.

The National Careers Service offers free one-to-one advice, and the HNY Careers Hub covers Humber and North Yorkshire specifically.

Look after yourself while you do all this

Losing a job affects people in ways that go beyond money, and it is normal to feel low, anxious or oddly aimless for a while. It is worth saying to someone. If you need to talk right now, Samaritans are free on 116 123, 24 hours a day. If low mood or anxiety persists, NHS Talking Therapies can be self-referred to in most areas without going through a GP, and Mind has practical information and local services. GOV.UK’s own redundancy guidance lists these same organisations for a reason.

Keep some structure to your days, keep in touch with former colleagues, who are often the source of the next job, and treat the search as a job in itself with hours and an end time. Most people made redundant in the Humber are back in work within months, often somewhere better suited to them than where they left. That is not a promise, but it is the usual pattern, and it is worth holding on to.