A person may be put on reduced working hours by their employer e.g. a three day week or a 4 day week, where there is a reduction in the amount of work available. If an employee temporarily accepts a substantial reduction in his remuneration or his/her hours of work and such reduction is not less than half his/her normal working hours or remuneration (e.g. a 3 day week, or a 4 day week) such temporary acceptance for a period not exceeding 52 weeks shall not be taken to be an acceptance by him/her of an offer of suitable employment.
Similarly, if the employee never accepted the reduced working hours as his/her "normal" hours and was constantly seeking to be put back on full time working, he/she could then be deemed not to have accepted his/her reduced hours as normal. In such circumstances, an employee could request a statutory redundancy payment from his/her employer as the hours worked are not regarded as suitable or normal employment. It is up to the employer concerned in the first instance to determine whether or not there is in fact a redundancy situation. Disputes in this regard can be referred to the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) for adjudication.
Where a person is put on reduced working hours by their employer e.g. a three day week or a 4 day week, the redundancy entitlement is calculated on the basis of a full week, provided the employee was put on reduced hours within one year (52 weeks) before being made redundant. If made redundant after the first year of reduced working hours and if it is clear that the employee fully accepted the reduced working hours as being his/her normal working week, never requesting a return to a full time week, the employee is deemed to have accepted the reduced hours as his/her normal week. In this situation, the gross pay for redundancy purposes is based on the reduced working hours. Where an employee, for his/her own reasons, requests to be placed on reduced working hours and the employer agrees, the redundancy entitlement is based on the reduced hours.