# LAW-0002 — NES minimum notice and redundancy pay

*Benchmarking hypothetical, not legal advice. Law stated as at FY2025–26 (Commonwealth).*

## Answers (weeks)

| Item | Minimum owed |
|------|----------------|
| **(a) Notice of termination** | **4 weeks** |
| **(b) Redundancy pay** (weeks of base pay) | **11 weeks** |

## Working

The employer is a national-system employer and not a small business employer, so the National Employment Standards in the **Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth)** apply. The position is a genuine redundancy; the employee has **6 years** of continuous service and is **under 45**. Paying notice in lieu of requiring the employee to work through the notice period does not reduce the minimum notice period—it is still the NES amount in weeks of pay.

### (a) Minimum notice — s 117

Section **117** sets minimum notice by length of continuous service (for employers that are not small business employers):

- Less than 1 year → 1 week  
- At least 1 year but less than 3 years → 2 weeks  
- At least 3 years but less than 5 years → 3 weeks  
- **At least 5 years** → **4 weeks**

This employee has 6 years of service, so the base minimum is **4 weeks**.

Section 117 also requires an **additional 1 week** where the employee is **aged 45 or over** and has at least 2 years of continuous service. This employee is under 45, so **no extra week** applies.

**Minimum notice owed: 4 weeks.**

### (b) Redundancy pay — s 119

Section **119** sets redundancy pay (in weeks of the employee’s base rate of pay) by continuous service. For an employee with at least 6 years but **less than 7 years** of service, the scale provides **11 weeks**.

This employee has exactly 6 years of continuous service, which falls in that band.

**Redundancy pay owed: 11 weeks** of base pay.

## Controlling authority

- **Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth)**  
  - **s 117** — minimum period of notice of termination  
  - **s 119** — amount of redundancy pay  

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## Approach

Closed-book answer from the statutory NES scales in the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth). Facts were mapped to the **s 117** notice table (5+ years → 4 weeks; no +1 week because the employee is under 45) and the **s 119** redundancy table (6 to less than 7 years → 11 weeks). No separate `inputs/` materials were present; only the task prompt was used.