Employment Rights Act 1996, section 163

References to employment tribunals

Part XI Redundancy payments etc.

(1)Any question arising under this Part as to—

(a)the right of an employee to a redundancy payment, or

(b)the amount of a redundancy payment,

shall be referred to and determined by an [F867employment tribunalF867] .

(2)For the purposes of any such reference, an employee who has been dismissed by his employer shall, unless the contrary is proved, be presumed to have been so dismissed by reason of redundancy.

(3)Any question whether an employee will become entitled to a redundancy payment if he is not dismissed by his employer and he terminates his contract of employment as mentioned in section 150(1) shall for the purposes of this Part be taken to be a question as to the right of the employee to a redundancy payment.

(4)Where an order under section 157 is in force in respect of an agreement, this section has effect in relation to any question arising under the agreement as to the right of an employee to a payment on the termination of his employment, or as to the amount of such a payment, as if the payment were a redundancy payment and the question arose under this Part.

[F868 (5)Where a tribunal determines under subsection (1) that an employee has a right to a redundancy payment it may order the employer to pay to the worker such amount as the tribunal considers appropriate in all the circumstances to compensate the worker for any financial loss sustained by him which is attributable to the non-payment of the redundancy payment.F868]

[F869 (6)Where in accordance with Employment Tribunal Procedure Rules an employment tribunal determines in the same proceedings a complaint presented under section 111 (unfair dismissal) and a question referred under this section, subsection (2) has no effect for the purposes of the proceedings in so far as they relate to the complaint under section 111.F869]

Definitions used in section 163 7

employee

(1) In this Act “employee” means an individual who has entered into or works under (or, where the employment has ceased, worked under) a contract of employment.

Defined in s.230(1) · see it in the full Act
redundancy payment

“redundancy payment” has the meaning given by Part XI,

Defined in s.235(1) · see it in the full Act
employment

(5) In this Act “employment”—

(a)in relation to an employee, means (except for the purposes of section 171) employment under a contract of employment, and

(b)in relation to a worker, means employment under his contract;

Defined in s.230(5) · see it in the full Act

(6) This section has effect subject to sections 43K , 47B(3) and 49B(10) ; and for the purposes of Part XIII so far as relating to Part IVA or section 47B, “worker”, “worker’s contract” and, in relation to a worker, “employer”, “employment” and “employed” have the extended meaning given by section 43K.

Defined in s.230(6) · see it in the full Act
dismissed

“dismissal” and “dismissed” shall be construed in accordance with sections 136 to 138,

Defined in s.181(1) · see it in the full Act
employer

(4) In this Act “employer”, in relation to an employee or a worker, means the person by whom the employee or worker is (or, where the employment has ceased, was) employed.

Defined in s.230(4) · see it in the full Act

(6) This section has effect subject to sections 43K , 47B(3) and 49B(10) ; and for the purposes of Part XIII so far as relating to Part IVA or section 47B, “worker”, “worker’s contract” and, in relation to a worker, “employer”, “employment” and “employed” have the extended meaning given by section 43K.

Defined in s.230(6) · see it in the full Act
contract of employment

(2) In this Act “contract of employment” means a contract of service or apprenticeship, whether express or implied, and (if it is express) whether oral or in writing.

Defined in s.230(2) · see it in the full Act
worker

(3) In this Act “worker” (except in the phrases “shop worker” and “betting worker”) means an individual who has entered into or works under (or, where the employment has ceased, worked under)—

(a)a contract of employment, or

(b)any other contract, whether express or implied and (if it is express) whether oral or in writing, whereby the individual undertakes to do or perform personally any work or services for another party to the contract whose status is not by virtue of the contract that of a client or customer of any profession or business undertaking carried on by the individual;

Defined in s.230(3) · see it in the full Act

(6) This section has effect subject to sections 43K , 47B(3) and 49B(10) ; and for the purposes of Part XIII so far as relating to Part IVA or section 47B, “worker”, “worker’s contract” and, in relation to a worker, “employer”, “employment” and “employed” have the extended meaning given by section 43K.

Defined in s.230(6) · see it in the full Act

Cases considering section 163 6

Ugradar v Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust

[2019] UKEAT 0301_18_2006 · 20 June 2019

Section 163(1) required the Employment Tribunal to determine the timely statutory redundancy complaint once the claimant satisfied the statutory conditions and no payment had been made.

Greater Glasgow Health Board v Lamont

[2012] UKEAT 0019_12_2106 · 21 June 2012Interprets

The presumption of redundancy imposes no formal onus on the employer. The tribunal must decide the issue on all proved or agreed facts, and the presumption was displaced because those facts proved a non-redundancy reason for dismissal. (see paras [21]; [40]-[42])

Victoria and Albert Museum v Durrant

[2011] UKEAT 0381_09_0501 · 5 January 2011Limits

The court rejected reliance on the statutory presumption of redundancy as a substitute for evidence addressing whether the employer’s requirements for work of a particular kind had diminished (see Discussion and Conclusions, section 139 analysis).

What each judgment says about section 163 is in the case-law panel in the full Act.

Amendments and notes

3 notes from legislation.gov.uk

Amendments

  1. F867Words in s. 163(1) and sidenote to s. 163 substituted (1.8.1998) by 1998 c. 8, s. 1(2)(a)(b) (with s. 16(2)); S.I. 1998/1658, art. 2(1), Sch. 1
  2. F868S. 163(5) inserted (6.4.2009) by Employment Act 2008 (c. 24), ss. 7(2), 22(1)(a); S.I. 2008/3232, art. 2 (with Sch. paras. 1, 5)
  3. F869S. 163(6) inserted (25.4.2024) by Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022 (c. 35), s. 51(4), Sch. 5 para. 27; S.I. 2024/568, reg. 2(b)(vii)