Can My Employer Cancel My Redundancy or Change Their Mind?

It depends on how far the process has gone.

Stage	Can the employer change its mind?	Notes
Proposal / consultation	Yes	That's what consultation is for. Your award or agreement's consultation clause requires the employer to discuss the change and consider your ideas before deciding
Notice of termination given	Generally only with your agreement	Tribunals and courts have generally held that notice of termination, once given, can't be withdrawn unilaterally
Voluntary redundancy (VR) accepted	Depends on the VR terms	Read the expression-of-interest and acceptance documents. Many reserve the employer's right to decline or withdraw before a set date
Offer of another job instead	Yes, and it can affect your redundancy pay	Fair Work Act s 120 (below)

Generally not on their own. The long-standing position in Australian tribunals and courts is that a notice of termination, once given, can only be withdrawn by agreement. You may already have accepted another job on the strength of it. If you don't agree to the withdrawal, the termination goes ahead at the employer's initiative. You're then entitled to your notice (or pay in lieu) and, if the redundancy is genuine, redundancy pay under s 119 of the Fair Work Act. That's 4 to 16 weeks depending on service, unless the small business exemption in s 121 applies (fewer than 15 employees).

Many employees are happy to stay. If you are, confirm in writing that the notice is withdrawn and that your service, leave balances and pay continue unchanged.

This is where s 120 matters. If your employer obtains other acceptable employment for you, it can apply to the Fair Work Commission to reduce your redundancy pay. The reduction can go as low as nil. The Commission looks at whether the job is genuinely acceptable: pay, hours, location and travel, seniority, job security and the work itself. A job that is comparable in substance can lead to a reduction if you turn it down. A clearly inferior one usually won't.

Redeployment also matters for whether the redundancy is genuine at all. Under s 389, a dismissal isn't a genuine redundancy if it would have been reasonable to redeploy you within the business or an associated entity. If there was a suitable job and the employer didn't offer it, you may have an unfair dismissal claim. The deadline is 21 days from the dismissal. See Fair Work Ombudsman, Redundancy.

1. Ask for the change in writing, including what happens to your notice, role, pay and hours.
2. If notice was given and you don't want to stay, reply in writing that you don't agree to its withdrawal.
3. If you're offered redeployment, ask for the full terms and compare them with your current role. Our should I accept redundancy tool helps you weigh it up.
4. Check what you'd be owed with the redundancy pay calculator.

For employers: keep redundancy at the proposal stage until consultation is finished, so a change of mind costs nothing. Once notice is given, get the employee's written agreement before withdrawing it. If you're relying on redeployment to reduce redundancy pay, the s 120 application goes to the Fair Work Commission. You can't simply decide not to pay.