Prepare a severance-pay enquiry when your working hours vary

Start with your employment history

A severance enquiry needs more than your last monthly salary. Prepare the dates you started and ended work, any interruptions, changes in employer and how your scheduled hours changed. Keep the question of eligibility separate from the amount.

Why hours and service matter

Article 4(1) of the Employee Retirement Benefit Security Act, in the version effective 1 July 2026, excludes workers with less than one year of continuous service or fewer than 15 scheduled weekly hours averaged over four weeks from the employer duty to establish a retirement-benefit scheme. Those short reference points are not a complete decision rule for changing schedules, disputed employment status or unusual arrangements. Alisoplay does not turn them into a calculator.

Build a timeline for review

Use contracts, amendments and schedules to show the hours agreed for each period. Keep actual time records as a separate column where available. Identify gaps, changes and missing records rather than smoothing them into a single average. If an employer changed its name or your role changed, explain what happened and retain supporting documents.

List pay components and the final pay period, but do not label an estimated amount as legally owed. Ask the labor

Avoid common shortcuts

A colleague's payment, a spreadsheet formula or a general online answer cannot establish your own result. Do not assume the number of calendar months alone resolves eligibility. If something is disputed, present both the written terms and what occurred.

This guide is a preparation worksheet. Ask the labor