Notice period included

[norfolknights]

I may be made redundant at the end of March. I will have been with the company 2 years at the end of April and I have a 3 month notice period. Does the notice period count as length of time I have been in the company i.e. can I say at the end of my notice period I will have been there over 2 years and am therefore entitled to redundancy pay?
If they offer pay in lieu of notice is it the same situation? Thanks

If you serve your notice period or spend it on garden leave (i.e. being paid but not going in), you can count it towards your service.

If you are paid in lieu then you can't.

Some people try to ask for garden leave for exactly this reason if payment in lieu is offered. Also means that, when interviewing you can say you are currently employed (which sometimes helps).

I was at the same situation (four years minus a week at the date of termination, paid in lieu of notice). My ex-employer came up with all sorts of excuses for not giving me any gardening leave and certainly didn't want me to work for my notice. Hope that yours treaats you better.

The only thing I would add is that if your contract doesn't say your employer can terminate your employment immediately and pay you in lieu of notice, then if they do so it's technically compensation for breach of contract. So really they should be putting you in the financial position you would have been in had they given you the notice you were entitled to. So you'd argue in that situation that they should compensate you for the fact that their breach of contract meant you lost the redundancy pay you were otherwise entitled to.

If your contract says your employer can pay in lieu of notice and terminate immediately then that wouldn't be the case.