Redundancy, a common feature of Irish life in the 1980s, became a distant memory for most workers during the boom years of the 1990s. But a string of high-profile closures in recent weeks has again focused attention on what faces employees when the company they work for restructures or closes.

Dell, Gateway, Guinness, Intel and Kylemore Bakeries are among the many household names to announce plans to lay-off workers, either on a voluntary or compulsory basis, over the last few months as the global economic downturn has taken its toll.

Figures released by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment bear out what the anecdotal evidence suggests. They show a sharp rise in the number of notified redundancies over the last four months. In April, they rose 68 per cent on the same period last year, the May figures were up 73 per cent while June and July showed 78 and 71 per cent increases respectively.

So what lies in store for the newly redundant workers, many of whom belong to a generation used only to boom times and who often find themselves working in companies without any trade union representation?

Under law, all workers are entitled to a minimum redundancy package. This amounts to half a week's pay for each year of employment between the ages of 16 and 41 years or a week's pay for each year of employment over the age of 41.

In addition, they are entitled to the equivalent of one week's normal pay subject to a ceiling of £400 per week. Only those who have at least two years' service are entitled to benefits.

Workers can also claim pay in lieu of notice and holidays, including public holidays if they fall within the notice period.

Those without contracts setting out notice terms are entitled to notice depending on their length of service.

Workers with 13 weeks' to two years' service are entitled to a week's notice, those with between two and five years' service get two weeks' notice while those with five to 10 years' service get four weeks. If a worker has been with a company for 10 to 15 years, he gets six weeks' notice while those with more than 15 years' service are entitled to eight weeks' notice.

Workers are also entitled to claim for any arrears to their pension scheme.

However, there is a feeling in trade union circles that the law has lagged behind developments in the real world and that the minimum provisions need updating.

SIPTU, which has a working group looking at the issue, believes that the statutory redundancy entitlement should be increased to three weeks' pay for every year of service, regardless of age.

It is also lobbying for the £400 ceiling to be removed or indexed to partnership agreements, while it suggests that there is an argument for a minimum payment of two weeks to one month's wages for all employees, regardless of length of service.

In practice, many workers manage to negotiate higher redundancy packages with management through their trade union or worker representatives.

But SIPTU believes the legislation setting out the minimum entitlements needs updating, as it affects the size of agreed severance packages. "It acts as an anchor on everything else," one SIPTU official noted.

The size of settlements depends on a number of factors, including the overall state of the economy, the type of redundancy involved and the sector in which the company operates.

Companies which are restructuring tend to pick workers for redundancy, making it the most costly form of severance. Where voluntary redundancy is on offer, people have a choice as to whether or not to take it up, so payouts are usually less.

When a company goes to the wall and is forced to close, very often workers get little more than their statutory entitlement.

There are also wide variations between sectors.

A review of severance settlements in 2000, compiled by Industrial Relations News, shows the pharmaceuticals sector to be towards the top of the list with packages tending to be between six to six and a half weeks plus the statutory entitlement.

Four to five weeks' pay was traditional in the computers and electronics sector while the clothing and textile sector came bottom of the league with settlements in the one to two weeks per year of service bracket.

jmosullivan@irish-times.ie