Capping redundancy payouts in insolvencies

Articles, Restructuring + Insolvency

A proposed amendment to the Fair Entitlements Guarantee Act 2012 (Cth) is presently before Federal Parliament.  If this amendment is passed it will cap redundancy payments made to workers of insolvent companies to a maximum of 16 weeks’ pay.

Prior to 31 December 2012, the General Employee Entitlements and Redundancy Scheme (GEERS) provided a means by which employees of insolvent companies could apply to the federal government for payment of their unpaid employee entitlements, including redundancy pay.  GEERS limited redundancy payments to employees to 4 weeks’ pay per year of employment, capped at 16 weeks total.

From 31 December 2012 the Fair Entitlement Guarantee Scheme (FEGS) replaced GEERS and the cap was removed.  The proposed amendment would restore the old GEERS cap and bring FEGS into alignment with the National Employment Standards, which caps redundancy payments to employees at 4 weeks’ redundancy pay for each year of employment, capped at a maximum of 16 weeks.

For more information please contact Simon Gallant.

People

With the technical skills, diverse backgrounds and practical experience to match, our teams care about their clients.

Our Expertise

We have a strong reputation for providing specialist, market-leading advice in the practices we offer. Our teams are experts in their field and provide an unrivalled service to clients.

News

We want to share our knowledge with you. A collection of news and insights into those areas in which we specialise.

Resources

We offer a relevant, easy access platform that allows clients and colleagues to gain access to relevant resources.

Contact Us

With offices in Sydney and Melbourne, our team pride themselves on always being available for their clients.

Careers

We are collaborative, respectful and inclusive. Recruiting the best talent is only half of the equation; providing a culture that enables development is the other.

See our exciting opportunities available for graduates, lawyers, legal support staff and business services professionals.