When an employer lets some of their workforce go as the roles are no longer required, this is known as redundancy. This is often confused with termination where a person is fired and replaced – that is not redundancy. It is only redundancy when the position no longer exists.
Redundancy often happens due to restructuring, when a company redefines positions and juggles around departments to create a new organizational structure. It can also occur when employers need to reduce staff numbers as a cost-cutting measure, the business shuts down, or there has been a merge with another company. Whether you get a severance package will depend on your company’s policies and how long you have worked for them.
