HR said take redundancy now OR temp contract.

[MuffinMouse]

I am due to be made redundant while on maternity leave from LA after 14yrs 11 months continuous service. I was told that I could take a temp contract to cover a post I held previously but if I took it, I would lose any redundancy payment now and wouldn't get any when the temp post ends. Is this right? Do I forfeit my continuous service?

Hi OP is the temp job they offered you the same as the one you are currently being offered redundancy for? Perhaps contact ACAS about whether you would lose continuous service bit it doesn't sound right to me. I found this on direct.gov website:
It is automatically unfair and automatic sex discrimination for your employer to select you for redundancy or dismiss you for a reason connected with:

maternity leave
birth or pregnancy
paternity leave
parental leave
time off for dependants
Your employer can make you redundant while you are on maternity leave if they can fairly justify their choice. For example, your employer might close the section of their business that you normally work in and make all employees in that section redundant. Then your employer can make you redundant as well.

However, if your employer makes staff cuts across the company, they cannot make you redundant because you are on or are about to take maternity leave.

If you are made redundant whilst on Statutory Maternity Leave then you have special rights. You have the right to be offered any suitable alternative job in the company. This is even if there are other employees that might be more suitable for the job. If you are offered a new job, you are still entitled to the four-week trial period, which should start when you return from Statutory Maternity Leave.

If you are made redundant or dismissed during your Statutory Maternity Leave your employer must give you a written statement explaining the reasons for their decision. You should receive your normal notice period or pay in lieu of notice and redundancy pay, if you are entitled to receive them.

Hope this helps :-)

No you don't forfeit your continuous service at all just because you change jobs to one that has an end date. Fixed term employees are entitled to redundancy usually anyway, and as you've been there so long you are permanent regardless of what the job is. A temp contract will keep you employed a bit longer but at the end of that you will still be redundant.

Hi - are you in the union as they should be helpful at a LA

Thanks everyone. I should have added that the temp post will be for less than 12 months. I have today queried HR's stance and received the following (which confuses me further) - I'd be really grateful for any help on a next step:

"in your scenario I believe the reason for dismissal (expiry of fixed-term post covering secondment) will be some other substantial reason (SOSR). SOSR
is the ?catch all? reason to justify the dismissal of an employee where the four other potentially fair reasons under the Employment Rights Act 1996 do not quite fit (if you want more info just shout).

As you might be aware, redundancy is defined in pretty specific terms. In this case, the reasoning for my answer would be we need the same amount of work (which is also the same kind of work) done by the same number of people (1). The fact that it is to be undertaken by A (the person on secondment) not B (the person covering) does not make that factual situation fall within the statutory definition of redundancy and this only really leaves SOSR as a reason for dismissal.

Employees who are dismissed by way of SOSR are not entitled to a redundancy payment."