Your employer won't pay statutory redundancy: what to do

Who pays statutory redundancy in Ireland?

Your employer pays it. The State’s Social Insurance Fund, run by the Department of Social Protection, steps in only in two situations:

• your employer cannot pay, because of financial difficulty or insolvency; or
• the WRC has decided that the lump sum is due, and your employer still has not paid.

If your employer simply refuses or delays, you cannot go straight to the Department. You first claim from your employer, then, if needed, go to the WRC.

Situation	Who pays	What you do
Employer pays in full	Employer	Check the amount and keep proof of payment
Employer pays too little, or nothing, but can pay	Employer	Claim the amount in writing, then complain to the WRC if needed
Employer has a WRC decision against it and still does not pay	Social Insurance Fund	Apply to the Department with the WRC decision
Employer cannot pay, or is in liquidation, receivership or examinership	Social Insurance Fund	The employer, liquidator, receiver or examiner applies; you confirm a declaration

First, check the amount

Before you write, make sure your figure is right. The statutory lump sum is 2 weeks’ pay per year of service plus 1 week, with weekly pay counted up to €600 RPA 1967, Sch. 3, para. 1. See statutory redundancy in Ireland: who qualifies, the €600 cap, examples.

Example. Aoife’s last day was 23 October 2026, after 7.62 years of service at €850 a week. Her statutory lump sum is 16.24 weeks × €600 = €9,744.00. Her employer has paid nothing.

If your employer paid part of the amount, the claim is for the balance. For instance, if Aoife had received €6,000.00, the balance would be €3,744.00.

Step 1: claim in writing from your employer

The law keeps your right if, within 52 weeks of your employment ending, you claim the payment by notice in writing given to your employer RPA 1967, s.24(1)(b). No particular format is required.

Form RP77 or a letter?

The RP77 is not an application to the State. It is a short claim form addressed to your employer. You tick the reason that applies, for example: no RP50 and no payment; RP50 received but no payment; payment received but wrong (with details).

The form is old. It still refers to the Employment Appeals Tribunal and to a department that no longer exists under that name. A letter does the same job and can set out the full calculation. You can also send both: the letter, with a signed RP77 enclosed.

What a written claim usually contains

• your name, address and PPS number;
• your employer’s full legal name and address;
• your job, your start date and your last day;
• the reason your employment ended (redundancy, or a fixed-term contract not renewed);
• the calculation: days, years, weeks due, weekly pay, the €600 cap, the amount;
• any amount already received, and the balance;
• a date for payment. The RP77 suggests allowing “a reasonable time, say 14 days”;
• that, without payment or a reply, you intend to refer the matter to the Workplace Relations Commission.

Sending it

The law does not set a method. Choose one that proves the date: Registered Post with An Post, keeping the receipt, plus an email copy if you have your employer’s address. Or hand it over and ask for a signed, dated copy. Write down the date you sent it.

The 52-week time limit

The 52 weeks begin on the date your employment ends. Read cautiously, your written claim must reach your employer by the last day of that period. Between 52 and 104 weeks, a late claim is accepted only if the WRC finds there was a reasonable cause for the delay RPA 1967, s.24(2A). After 104 weeks, the right is lost.

For Aoife (last day 23 October 2026)	Date
Written claim must reach the employer by	21 October 2027
Suggested latest sending date	11 October 2027
Late claims, only with a reasonable cause, up to	19 October 2028

Do not wait for the deadline. Send your claim as soon as the payment is late. Promises to pay “soon” do not stop the clock.

Step 2: a complaint to the WRC, online

If your employer does not pay, the next step the law provides is the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC). A referral to the WRC within 52 weeks also keeps your right RPA 1967, s.24(1)(c).

How it works

• Complaints are made online only, through the WRC’s eComplaint portal. The old PDF form has not been accepted since 1 June 2025.
• One form per person. To save a draft, you need a mobile number and an email address: the draft comes back through an email link, then a code sent by text.
• The form asks for your employer’s full legal name, your county of work, your dates and pay, and the complaints you are making. You can attach documents (PDF, Word, Excel, images).
• WRC hearings are generally held in public, and decisions generally name the parties.

You fill in and submit the complaint yourself. Free help with the process is available from Citizens Information, the WRC’s information service, and trade unions. A solicitor can also advise.

A free WRC preparation sheet lists what the online form asks for, filled in from your answers, with your dates. It is available from the calculator’s results, with no purchase and no account. For the form section by section, see making a WRC complaint online.

How long do you have?

gov.ie and Citizens Information say to complain within one year of your employment ending (“usually”, says gov.ie), and up to two years only in exceptional cases. The Act does not say clearly how long you have to go to the WRC once you have sent a written claim in time, and we have not found an official answer. To be safe, plan to make any WRC complaint within the same 52 weeks, even if you have already sent a written claim.

Other sums have a shorter limit. A complaint about notice, annual leave, a public holiday or unpaid wages must usually be made within 6 months of the breach, or up to 12 months with a reasonable cause Workplace Relations Act 2015, s.41(6) and (8). If these are also unpaid, that earlier date comes first. See your P45 and final pay.

Step 3: after a WRC decision, if your employer still won’t pay

If the WRC decides the lump sum is due and your employer still does not pay, you can apply to the Department of Social Protection yourself:

1. Ask for the application form by email: redundancypayments@welfare.ie.
2. Complete it, sign it and send it with a copy of the WRC decision. Your employer’s signature is not needed.

Citizens Information says this application must be sent within 52 weeks of the WRC decision. We have not found this limit in the legislation, so treat it as the latest date and send the application as soon as you can.

If your employer cannot pay, or is insolvent

If your employer is in genuine financial difficulty, the employer applies online to the Department, through its Welfare Partners service. This is the RP50 process. You then receive a declaration to confirm. Ask your employer, in writing, whether the application has been made.

If your employer is in liquidation, receivership or examinership, it is usually the liquidator, receiver or examiner who applies. Contact them with your figures.

Other unpaid sums (wages, holiday pay, minimum notice) may be paid by the separate Insolvency Payments Scheme. The employer’s representative, liquidator or receiver applies on your behalf. gov.ie gives a limit of 8 weeks, with weekly pay counted up to €600 (€4,800). It does not say whether this limit applies to each type of debt or to all of them together. Since 8 June 2026, there is also a separate process, with its own rules, when a business has stopped trading without a formal insolvency.

Mistakes to avoid

• Leaving early during your redundancy notice without your employer’s written agreement (form RP6): you can lose your lump sum.
• Relying on a phone call. Only a written claim, a payment or a WRC referral keeps your right.
• Counting from the wrong date. Count from your real last day, even if you were paid in lieu of notice.
• Sending your only copy. Keep originals; send copies.

Your next steps

1. Check, free. Confirm your figure with the redundancy calculator, which also shows your time limits.
2. Claim in writing. Prepare your redundancy claim letter yourself, with the RP77 as an option (€9, or €19 with a dated follow-up letter and reminders).
3. The next step. If your employer does not pay, use the free WRC preparation sheet from the calculator’s results and make your complaint online.