Hiring after redundancy

[jobsagudden]

Hi, I wondered if anyone can help? The company I used to work for made me redundant along with half of the work force (medium sized organisation around 700 staff) at the beginning of October. They have since started posting the roles that they made redundant including mine. They contacted me and asked me to reply but was advised that it would be a lot less than I was on previously and I would have lost all my benefits (holidays, pension, health care etc) I just wondered if they are allowed to do this? Obviously they were over zealous when making redundancies, they have a history of messing people about.

It’s not about them not being “allowed” to do this. There’s no rule saying they can’t recruit again after redundancies.

However, if they do so very quickly, it may cast doubt on whether the redundancies were genuine in the first place. If they weren’t, and assuming you had at least two years’ service when you left, you may be able to claim unfair dismissal.

It will depend on what reason you were given for the redundancy, and whether the role being recruited is the same.

Call Acas for advice. I think there needs to be a minimum timeframe in between, and more than 2 months.

@AlwaysCheddar

Call Acas for advice. I think there needs to be a minimum timeframe in between, and more than 2 months.

That’s a complete myth. There’s no minimum timeframe. Sometimes things change quickly and unexpectedly and that’s ok. The question is whether the redundancy was genuine at the time it happened. Recruiting quickly can suggest it perhaps wasn’t, so most employers avoid it if at all possible. Offering redundant employees the opportunity to apply for new roles helps reduce the employer’s legal exposure.