Dismissal: severance and unemployment pay in Europe

Published 27 October 2026 · Data: PayAbacus termination calculators with each country’s 2026 rules

Losing a job after ten years costs very differently across Europe. For an employee on €36,000 a year dismissed without fault, legal severance ranges from nothing to 7.5 months of gross pay, and the unemployment benefit that follows differs even more.

Severance after 2, 10 and 20 years

After ten years the largest amounts are paid in Italy (7.5 months), Spain (6.6) and Greece (6.0). In Italy the figure is the TFR, deferred pay that every employee receives when a job ends; in Austria it is the balance of the severance fund. Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Malta, Norway, Romania, Sweden and Switzerland pay no legal severance after ten years.

In the United Kingdom the legal severance after ten years is 2.3 months of gross pay. Notice periods come on top in most countries and are shown in the table.

Unemployment benefit

Countries with little or no severance usually pay a higher and longer unemployment benefit. In total, the benefit for this worker reaches €67,346 in Iceland and only €2,180 in Poland. In the United Kingdom it comes to about €2,931.

What it means

Severance and unemployment benefit are two ways of protecting the same income. Comparing one without the other is misleading. The figures are for a dismissal without fault; collective agreements, company rules and court awards for unfair dismissal can add a lot.

Sources and method

• PayAbacus termination calculators with each country’s 2026 rules (the official sources are listed on each calculator page): dismissal by the employer without fault, €36,000 a year, aged 35, no unused leave, service ending on 31 October 2026.
• Severance in months of gross pay; unemployment benefit as the total of all months, converted to euros at the calculator’s exchange rates.
• Notice in months (days and weeks converted).