Australian Workplace Strategies

Employer Tools

Redundancy & Redeployment Risk Check

Review a proposed redundancy before the decision is implemented.

This employer self-review examines the operational rationale, consultation process, redeployment search, selection safeguards and termination-readiness issues associated with a proposed redundancy. It identifies gaps requiring attention; it does not determine that a dismissal is a genuine redundancy or provide legal advice.

Estimated completion: approximately 8–12 minutes for one proposed role or defined group of equivalent roles.

Review the job, not the person.

Redundancy concerns whether the employer still requires the job to be performed because of operational change. Performance, conduct, interpersonal difficulty, absence or a preference to remove a particular employee should not be substituted for a genuine job-based analysis.

Privacy

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  • Do not enter employee names, health information, complaint details or information capable of identifying an individual.

Disclaimer

This tool provides general information for Australian employers. It does not determine whether a proposed dismissal is a genuine redundancy, fair or lawful and is not legal, industrial-relations, payroll or tax advice. The applicable legislation, award, enterprise agreement, employment contract, policy and State or Territory laws must be checked for the particular circumstances.

Do not use this tool as a substitute for urgent advice where a dismissal has already been communicated, employment has ended, an employee is on protected leave or workers compensation, a transfer of business or insolvency is involved, or the proposal may be connected with a complaint, workplace right or protected attribute.

About this review

Redundancy review at a glance

This Australian employer tool reviews whether a proposed redundancy is supported by operational change, whether applicable consultation steps have been addressed and whether reasonable redeployment has been properly investigated. It separately identifies selection, protected-reason, entitlement, notification and evidence issues. It does not determine that a dismissal is a genuine redundancy.

  • Three genuine-redundancy gates plus separate risk lenses — never one legal score.
  • Rule-based Specialist review, Critical gaps, Material review, Information required and Core-elements-addressed outcomes.
  • Answers remain in the browser session; nothing is saved or transmitted.

Legal content reviewed 12 July 2026.

What is a genuine redundancy?

Under the Fair Work Act 2009 (s 389), a dismissal is a genuine redundancy where the employer no longer requires the employee's job to be performed by anyone because of changes in the operational requirements of the employer's enterprise, applicable consultation obligations in an award or enterprise agreement have been complied with, and it would not have been reasonable in all the circumstances for the employee to be redeployed within the employer's enterprise or an associated entity. Whether that test is met in a particular case is a matter of specific facts and advice.

When is a job no longer required?

Redundancy examines the job or position as a collection of duties and responsibilities, not merely whether every task will disappear. The job may cease, be divided among existing positions, be automated or materially redesigned, be outsourced, or reduce in number. What matters is whether the job as an identifiable position is still required following the operational change.

A material gap arises where the same job remains substantially unchanged, where a substantially identical replacement is planned, where no operational change has been identified, or where the principal reason for the affected role concerns performance, conduct, absence, interpersonal difficulty or the exercise of a workplace right.

Consultation before redundancy

Where an award or enterprise agreement applies, its consultation clause must be located and followed. Contracts, policies, public-sector directives and work-health-and-safety consultation duties may also apply. Even in award and agreement free employment, other obligations should be checked. Consultation is not the same as an announcement: employees should receive information about the proposed change and its likely effects, be given a reasonable opportunity to respond, and have their views genuinely considered before individual outcomes are finalised.

What is reasonable redeployment?

Reasonable redeployment is examined across the whole employer enterprise and, where they exist, associated entities. It may include current and expected vacancies, part-time and fixed-term work, lower-paid or lower-responsibility roles, roles at another location and roles requiring reasonable retraining. The employer should ask the employee about preferences rather than reject roles on the employee's behalf. Requiring an employee only to compete in an ordinary open recruitment process is not, without more, substantive consideration of redeployment.

Redeployment after Helensburgh Coal

Following the High Court's 2025 decision in Helensburgh Coal Pty Ltd v Bartley [2025] HCA 29, reasonable redeployment is not limited to placing an employee into an existing vacant position. Depending on all the circumstances, an employer may need to consider whether suitable work could reasonably be made available through changes to workforce arrangements, including work performed by contractors or labour-hire workers.

This does not mean an employer must create an artificial role, terminate every contractor arrangement, displace another employee or fundamentally alter the nature of its enterprise. Operational feasibility, employee capability, reasonable training, contractual constraints, timing and the surrounding circumstances remain relevant.

Cost and operational feasibility may be relevant, but contractor or labour-hire work should not be excluded automatically merely because it is externally performed or because no employee vacancy presently exists.

Selection where fewer positions remain

Where fewer equivalent positions will remain, employee selection is required. The pool should be defined by reference to the work and proposed structure. Criteria should be connected to the requirements of the remaining jobs, objective, established before scoring and supported by current records. Independent moderation and management of conflicts of interest are important. Unresolved performance or conduct concerns should generally be managed through their own procedure rather than substituted for a redundancy rationale.

Protected reasons and workplace rights

A redundancy proposal should be reviewed separately for any indication that a protected reason or workplace right — including a complaint, request for entitlements, union activity, workers-compensation or return-to-work process, temporary illness or injury, parental leave, flexible-work request, family and domestic violence disclosure, disability or reasonable-adjustment process, whistleblower report, discrimination complaint, protected attribute or recent safety report — has influenced the restructuring decision, selection pool, criteria, rating, timing or decision-maker. Independent review should be obtained where any such influence is identified as possible.

Notice, redundancy pay and final entitlements

National Employment Standards, modern awards, enterprise agreements, employment contracts, employer policies and industry-specific redundancy schemes may all provide relevant entitlements. Notice, redundancy pay, accrued annual leave and loading, long-service leave, contractual benefits, expense reimbursement, superannuation treatment and final-payment timing should be checked. Small-business employer status (fewer than 15 employees, counting regular systematic casuals and, where relevant, employees of associated entities) may affect NES redundancy pay. This tool prompts a readiness check; it does not calculate entitlements. For notice and redundancy-pay calculations, use the Fair Work Ombudsman — Notice and Redundancy Calculator (P.A.C.T.).

Unfair dismissal eligibility depends on matters including service, employer size, award or agreement coverage and earnings. General protections and other claims involve separate tests and should not be treated as removed merely because unfair dismissal eligibility may be uncertain.

Large-scale redundancy notifications

Where 15 or more employees may be dismissed for economic, technological, structural or similar reasons, written notification to Services Australia and additional consultation or notification requirements may apply. These steps should be checked before dismissals take effect. Registered employee-association consultation and notification considerations may also apply.

Documenting the redundancy process

A defensible redundancy proposal is supported by one controlled process record: business case, proposed structure, consultation chronology, redeployment search, selection records and final decision. The organisation should be able to establish what was proposed, what information was considered, who was consulted, what alternatives were examined and when each decision was made — without reconstructing events from memory.

When employers should obtain advice

  • Where a dismissal has already been communicated or employment has ended.
  • Where the employee is on parental leave, workers compensation or protected leave.
  • Where a sale, transfer of business or insolvency may be involved.
  • Where a complaint, workplace right or protected attribute may be connected.
  • Where 15 or more employees may be dismissed for economic, technological or structural reasons.
  • Where similar or suitable work is currently performed by contractors or labour-hire workers.

Frequently asked questions

What is a genuine redundancy?
Under the Fair Work Act 2009 (s 389), a dismissal is a genuine redundancy where the employer no longer requires the employee's job to be performed by anyone because of changes in the operational requirements of the employer's enterprise, applicable consultation obligations in an award or enterprise agreement have been complied with, and it would not have been reasonable in all the circumstances for the employee to be redeployed within the employer's enterprise or an associated entity. Whether that test is met in a particular case is not something this tool determines.
Can duties continue after a job is made redundant?
Yes. Some tasks may continue, be automated, be redistributed among remaining positions or be outsourced. What matters is whether the job as an identifiable position is still required, not whether every individual task has disappeared.
Must an employer consult before redundancy?
Where an award or enterprise agreement applies, its consultation clause must be located and followed. Contracts, policies, public-sector directives and work-health-and-safety consultation duties may also apply. Even in award and agreement free employment, other obligations should be checked. This tool identifies the applicable pathways; it does not confirm compliance.
Must an employer find another job for the employee?
The employer must consider whether it would have been reasonable in all the circumstances to redeploy the employee within its enterprise or an associated entity. The employer is not required to create a role, displace another employee or fundamentally alter its enterprise. What is reasonable depends on the circumstances.
Must lower-paid roles be considered?
Lower-paid, lower-status or lower-responsibility work may be part of a reasonable redeployment search. Employers should not reject such roles on the employee's behalf: the employee should be given the opportunity to consider them.
Does reasonable redeployment require an existing vacant position?
No. Following Helensburgh Coal Pty Ltd v Bartley [2025] HCA 29, reasonable redeployment is not limited to placing an employee into an existing vacancy. Depending on all the circumstances, suitable work performed by contractors or labour-hire workers may need to be considered.
Must contractor or labour-hire work be considered?
Where similar or suitable work is currently performed by contractors or labour-hire workers, the employer may need to consider whether some or all of that work could reasonably be reallocated to the employee, having regard to operational feasibility, capability, reasonable training, contractual constraints and the surrounding circumstances. Contractor-performed work is not automatically available redeployment, and it is not automatically excluded because no employee vacancy exists.
Can an employee be required to compete for redeployment?
Requiring an employee to compete in an ordinary open recruitment process, without more, is not the same as substantively considering redeployment. Whether it was reasonable in a particular case depends on the circumstances.
Can performance be considered in redundancy selection?
Redundancy is a job-based analysis. Where selection is required because fewer equivalent positions will remain, criteria must be tied to the requirements of the remaining jobs, be objective and be supported by current records. Unresolved performance or conduct concerns should generally be managed through the appropriate procedure rather than substituted for a redundancy rationale.
Does a small business have to pay redundancy pay?
The National Employment Standards provide that small business employers (fewer than 15 employees, counting regular and systematic casuals and, where relevant, employees of associated entities) are not required to pay NES redundancy pay. Awards, enterprise agreements, contracts, policies and industry-specific schemes may provide different entitlements. This tool prompts a qualification check; it does not calculate entitlements.
What happens if 15 or more employees may be dismissed?
Where 15 or more employees may be dismissed for economic, technological, structural or similar reasons, written notification to Services Australia and additional consultation or notification requirements may apply. These steps should be checked before dismissals take effect.
Does refusing another role remove redundancy pay?
Not automatically. Applications to reduce redundancy pay because acceptable alternative employment was obtained (or because of inability to pay) are dealt with by the Fair Work Commission on their merits. The applicable award, agreement and Commission processes should be checked.
Can this tool confirm that a redundancy is genuine?
No. This is a pre-decision process review. It identifies operational, consultation, redeployment, selection, protected-reason, entitlement, notification, record-integrity and implementation-readiness issues that require attention. Whether a particular dismissal is a genuine redundancy, and whether it is fair or lawful, is a matter to be resolved on the specific facts, with advice.

Legal basis and official guidance

Legal content reviewed 12 July 2026.

Related AWS reading: managing termination risk — fair, documented processes and genuine-redundancy consultation, redeployment and documentation. For a scoped review, see workplace advisory & compliance, or discuss this proposed redundancy with AWS.