Answer

Do I have to work my redundancy notice period?

Not always. Your employer can choose to give you payment in lieu of notice (PILON) instead of requiring you to work it, or put you on garden leave, where you stay employed and paid but do not attend work. Whether you can insist on working your notice, or insist on being paid instead, depends on what your contract and any settlement agreement say. There is no general legal right to demand either option.

What decides which applies

Check your contract of employment first: many contain a PILON clause allowing your employer to end your employment immediately and pay you instead of requiring you to work notice. If there is no such clause, your employer ending your employment without notice or pay can itself be a breach of contract, which changes what you may be able to claim.

If you are negotiating a settlement agreement, notice treatment is usually one of the terms on the table: garden leave, payment in lieu, or working some or all of the period. See our payment in lieu of notice guide and redundancy notice period guide for the statutory minimums that set the floor either way.