An employee with two years' service who has been given notice of dismissal for redundancy is entitled under the Employment Rights Act 1996 to a reasonable amount of paid time off during working hours, in order to look for work or arrange training.
The legislation does not define what is meant by a 'reasonable' amount of time off. There is a limit, however, on the amount of time for which the company has to pay the employee, which is 40 per cent of the employee's weekly pay. Therefore, an employee who works a five-day week is entitled to two days off with pay, but may be entitled to further time off on an unpaid basis, so that the paid and unpaid periods amount to a reasonable total.
It would be good practice for a company to allow all employees who have been given notice of redundancy reasonable time off during their notice period to look for alternative work or retrain, even if they do not have two years' service. A company might also wish to consider increasing the amount of time off for which it is prepared to pay above the statutory two days.