Answers · UK 2025/26

Can I be made redundant during my probation period, and do I get redundancy pay?

You can legally be made redundant during a probation period, but statutory redundancy pay only applies after two full years of continuous service, so most employees made redundant during probation receive no statutory redundancy pay, though they are still entitled to notice pay and any accrued but unused holiday pay.

Last updated: 1 July 2026Last reviewed: 1 July 2026How we verify

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Being made redundant during a probation period feels particularly unfair to many employees, but the legal position is straightforward, if often disappointing. **Statutory redundancy pay requires two years of service** Statutory redundancy pay only becomes payable once an employee has at least two full years of continuous service with their employer -- since a probation period (commonly three to six months, occasionally up to a year) falls well short of two years, an employee made redundant during probation almost never qualifies for statutory redundancy pay, regardless of how the redundancy came about or how unfair it may feel. **What you ARE still entitled to** Even without redundancy pay, an employee dismissed for redundancy during probation is still entitled to: their statutory (or contractual, if longer) notice period or pay in lieu of notice, payment for any statutory holiday accrued but not yet taken up to their leaving date, and their normal pay up to their last working day -- these entitlements exist regardless of length of service or the reason for dismissal (redundancy or otherwise). **Notice period during probation** Many employment contracts specify a SHORTER notice period during probation than after it is passed (for example, one week during probation versus one month afterwards) -- check your specific contract, since statutory minimum notice (one week after one month of service) is a floor, but many probation clauses set a contractually agreed shorter period that is still legally valid as long as it meets or exceeds the statutory minimum for the relevant length of service. **Is a "redundancy" during probation always genuine?** Employers occasionally use the word "redundancy" loosely when a probationary employee is not performing well or is not a good fit, when the correct process would actually be a probation failure or capability dismissal, not a genuine redundancy (which requires an actual reduction in the need for that role or work, not concerns about individual performance) -- if you suspect this, it is worth checking whether the stated reason genuinely reflects a redundancy situation (role disappearing, restructuring, reduced need for the work) rather than being a mislabelled performance-related dismissal. **Employment tribunal protection is limited early on** Most unfair dismissal claims require two years of continuous service to bring to an employment tribunal, so an employee with only a few months' service (well within probation) generally cannot claim ordinary unfair dismissal even if the redundancy process was poorly handled, EXCEPT in specific automatically unfair dismissal categories (such as dismissal related to pregnancy, whistleblowing, or certain discrimination grounds), which do not require any minimum length of service. **Worked example** An employee three months into a six-month probation period is told their role is being made redundant due to a company restructuring. Because they have less than two years' service, they receive no statutory redundancy pay -- they are entitled to their contractual (or statutory minimum) notice period, for example one week's notice or pay in lieu, plus payment for any of their pro-rated statutory holiday entitlement not yet taken, but nothing beyond this related to the redundancy itself. **Practical tip** Check your written statement of employment particulars or contract for the specific notice period that applies during probation, and confirm any outstanding holiday entitlement is correctly calculated and paid in your final payslip, since these are the main financial entitlements available to a probationary employee facing redundancy, rather than statutory redundancy pay itself.