📦 Redundancy checklist: the first fortnight

Money and paperwork come first because they have deadlines; the rest of it does not need to be rushed. Take the advice you're entitled to before signing anything.

18 items

1. The letter read properly before signing anythingNot skimmed in the room. Take it away, read it somewhere quiet, and take advice before agreeing to terms.
2. Statutory and any additional payment worked out separatelyCheck the current rules for what you're entitled to as a minimum, then check the letter offers at least that.
3. Notice pay, holiday owed and any bonus that's already vested, checkedThese are frequently separate from the redundancy figure itself and just as frequently missed.
4. Whether the payment is taxed correctlyPart of a redundancy payment is often untaxed up to a threshold — check the current rules rather than assume the payslip has it right.
5. Advice taken before signing a settlement agreementMost require independent advice to be valid at all, and it's usually paid for as part of the deal — use it.
6. Final pay date and what it actually includes, confirmed in writing
7. Benefits and insurance end dates checkedHealth cover, life insurance and pension contributions often stop the day you leave, not the day the payment arrives.
8. Pension provider and member number saved before access is cutIt stays yours regardless, but the details are much easier to find today than in six months.
9. Government support or benefit eligibility checked promptlyThere's often a time limit on when a claim can start counting from, so this is worth doing in the first days.
10. Any company property returned on recordLaptop, badge, phone — returned with a note of when, so it's never a dispute later.
11. A copy of your own documents taken before access endsPayslips, your P45 or equivalent, and anything with your own performance history on it. It's yours; get it before the login stops working.
12. A reference agreed while people still remember the workAgree the wording now if you can. It gets vaguer and harder to arrange the longer it's left.
13. CV and professional profiles updated with the leaving date, not left mid-sentenceA CV that stops abruptly mid-role reads worse than one that's honestly current.
14. The job search budgeted for, in time as much as moneyA number of hours a day, not an open-ended scroll. It's easier to sustain and easier to measure.
15. Practical costs reviewed for the gap: subscriptions, direct debits, anything easy to pauseSmall and boring, but it's real money back in the same week.
16. One person told outside the situation, properlyThis part is hard, and it's fine for it to be. Say it plainly to someone who isn't going to try and fix it in the same conversation.
17. A short, honest way of explaining it decided in advanceOne sentence you're comfortable repeating, so every conversation with a recruiter or an old colleague doesn't reopen it from scratch.
18. Networking started before it feels necessaryThe conversations that lead somewhere are rarely the ones started under visible pressure.