Which UK law introduced statutory redundancy payments in 1965?

The UK’s Redundancy Payments Act 1965 introduced statutory redundancy payments for eligible employees whose jobs disappeared through redundancy.

The Act formed part of postwar British efforts to provide financial protection when workers lost employment for economic or organizational reasons rather than personal misconduct. It established a statutory payment framework, with entitlement linked to factors including age, weekly pay, and length of service.

The legislation also helped shift redundancy compensation from a matter handled mainly through individual contracts or workplace custom toward a national employment right. Later laws changed and expanded the framework. The Employment Protection Act 1975, for example, reorganized important employment protections and is sometimes confused with the original 1965 measure.

Redundancy pay is distinct from unemployment benefit: it is compensation connected to the ending of a job because the role is no longer needed, while unemployment benefits support people who are out of work. Modern UK redundancy rules are mainly found in later legislation, but the 1965 Act is the key starting point for the statutory system.