Employer Gone Bust? Getting Your Redundancy Pay and Money Owed in Northern Ireland

Who this guide is for

Employees in Northern Ireland whose employer is insolvent and who are owed redundancy pay, wages, holiday pay or notice pay.

What this guide does not cover

• Work in England, Wales or Scotland: see the Great Britain guide.
• An employer that is not insolvent but will not pay: see our employee rights guide and the tribunal deadline guide.
• Benefits you can claim now: see our unemployed guide. Your workplace pension: see our pension protection guide.

What the rules depend on

1. Is your employer formally insolvent? Usually an insolvency practitioner or the Official Receiver is appointed, for example as administrator or liquidator. If the business has closed, find out first whether it is insolvent or just in difficulty.
2. How long did you work there? Redundancy pay needs 2 years. Compensatory notice pay starts after one calendar month's service.

What you can claim

You can claim for all your unpaid pay from the insolvency practitioner. There is no guarantee that the full amount will be paid, as it depends on how much is raised from selling your employer's assets. Some debts, including holiday pay and wages, are preferential debts, which must be paid before certain other debts.

Because full payment cannot be guaranteed, employees can claim a basic minimum from the National Insurance Fund:

• redundancy pay
• wages, up to a maximum of 8 weeks
• holiday pay, up to a limit
• compensatory notice pay: one week after one calendar month's service, rising to one week per year of service, up to a maximum of 12 weeks. New earnings are taken into account.

There is a limit on the weekly pay used. For redundancy pay, no more than 20 years can be counted. For redundancies from 6 April 2026, a week's pay is capped at £783 and the most statutory redundancy pay can be is £23,490.

What to do next

If the business you work for has closed, find out whether your employer is insolvent or just in difficulty. Companies House holds trading details on its register of companies.

If your employer is legally insolvent, contact the appointed insolvency practitioner and the Northern Ireland Redundancy Payments Service.

You apply to the Northern Ireland Redundancy Payments Service (Department for the Economy) online, through an account where you submit and manage your claims. Apply for redundancy pay within 6 months of the date you were made redundant. Holiday pay covers holiday owed for the 12 months before your employer became insolvent, up to 6 weeks, and every payment is capped at the weekly pay limit. Notice pay may be reduced by the Jobseeker's Allowance or Universal Credit you were eligible for during your notice period, even if you did not claim it.

Traps

• Do not use Great Britain figures, phone numbers or online forms here. Northern Ireland has its own Redundancy Payments Service and a £783 weekly cap.
• A business that has closed is not always insolvent. Check first.
• New earnings are taken into account in compensatory notice pay.