Redundancy Payments (Amendment) Bill
The Government have published The Redundancy Payments (Amendment) Bill, providing a special State payment for workers made redundant who have lost out on reckonable service over the Covid period.
This new Bill provides a special payment directly from the social welfare fund, of up to a maximum of €1,860 tax- free, for any employees who were made redundant and who lost out on reckonable service while they were placed on lay-off, as a result of necessary COVID-19 closures to protect public health.
Under Redundancy Payments legislation, periods of lay-off are not deemed to be ‘reckonable service’, which means it cannot be taken into account when calculating the total service of employees for the purpose of any redundancy payment, thereby reducing the redundancy payment they may be entitled to. The Bill aims to compensate employees for any such loss.
The Government recently lifted temporary restrictions which were put in place during Covid preventing employees from claiming redundancy during periods of lay-off or short-time working, meaning employees placed on lay-off can now, if they qualify, claim statutory redundancy.
The Bill will make sure that employees, now receiving redundancy payments, will be treated as if they had not been on lay-off when it comes to calculating their redundancy payment.
The payment will be administered directly by the Department and it is anticipated that payments will come into effect in the first half of 2022.
For further information or guidance on redundancies, please contact us on info@mssthehrpeople.ie or alternatively 018870690.
