Voluntary redundancy is not a different scheme with a different sum. The statutory calculation is identical to a compulsory redundancy, because the Act does not care who suggested it. What differs is everything built on top: employers usually open a voluntary round with an enhanced offer, and the negotiation is about that layer rather than about the statutory floor underneath it, which is fixed.
The statutory part does not move
Whether you volunteered or were selected, the calculation is the one in section 162 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and set out by GOV.UK: half a week's pay per full year under 22, one week per full year from 22 to 40, one and a half weeks per full year from 41, capped at 20 years of service. A week's pay is capped at 751 pounds for a redundancy on or after 6 April 2026 and the statutory maximum is 22,530 pounds. Those figures are your floor in a voluntary round, not your target.
Can you ask for redundancy?
You can ask, and in an announced round employers frequently invite it, but there is no right to be made redundant and an employer can refuse. Two things follow from that. First, asking is a conversation rather than a claim, so nothing is owed until an offer is made and accepted. Second, an employer that keeps you on, or offers suitable alternative work that you refuse without good reason, changes your entitlement: GOV.UK lists both as situations in which statutory redundancy pay is not payable.
Questions to ask when being made redundant, before you agree
Four numbers settle whether an offer is worth taking. The statutory figure, which you can compute exactly. The notice element and whether it is being worked or paid in lieu, since that decides the tax treatment. The enhancement above the statutory sum, expressed as weeks per year so you can compare it with colleagues' offers. And the date employment ends, which fixes which year's caps apply and starts the six month period in which a statutory claim must be made.
Why the offer usually arrives as a settlement agreement
An enhanced voluntary payment is normally documented in a settlement agreement, because the employer is buying certainty as well as a departure. That has a consequence worth knowing before the meeting rather than after: section 203 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 makes such an agreement void unless its conditions are met, and one of those conditions is that you took advice from a relevant independent adviser. The employer normally contributes to that cost because the agreement does not work without it.
Questions people ask about voluntary redundancy calculator
Is voluntary redundancy pay calculated differently?
The statutory element is calculated identically. Any difference in what you receive comes from the employer's enhancement, which the Act does not govern and does not cap.
Can I ask for redundancy?
You can ask and it is common in an announced round, but there is no right to be selected and the employer can say no. Nothing is owed until an offer is made and accepted.
What should I ask when I am being made redundant?
Ask for the statutory figure and the weekly pay used to reach it, whether notice is worked or paid in lieu, what the enhancement is in weeks per year, and the exact date employment ends. Those four answers let you check the offer against the published rules yourself.