We have an employee who relocated into our employment in Northern Ireland from a sister company in the US. We are now considering the redundancy of his role. Do we have to recognise his service here and in the US for the purpose of calculating his statutory redundancy pay?

Generally, if an employee leaves their job and is employed by an employer who is associated with that first employer, continuity of employment is preserved. The periods of employment with both the original employer and the associated employer will count towards the employment period. Employers are associated if (a) one is a company of which the other (directly or indirectly) has control or (b) both are companies of which a third person (directly or indirectly) has control. A gap in time between the two employments can affect this.

However, when calculating statutory redundancy pay, if an employee was employed abroad and during that time was not classed as an “employed earner” (someone for