Employer hiring after redundancy

This is a really common question and the answer depends heavily on the timing, the role, and the circumstances. Here is the legal position and the practical reality.

Legal position:

Redundancy arises when the employer's need for employees to carry out work of a particular kind has ceased or diminished, or is expected to do so. This is defined in section 139 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. The key point is that genuine redundancy relates to the role, not the person.

If your employer makes you redundant and then hires someone else to do the same or substantially the same job, that can call into question whether the redundancy was genuine. A sham redundancy, where the employer uses redundancy as a cover to dismiss a particular individual, can amount to unfair dismissal.

However, the position is not black and white. Your employer can lawfully recruit after making you redundant in certain circumstances, including:

1. A genuine change in the business means the new role is materially different from yours, for example different duties, skills, hours, seniority, or terms.
2. Business circumstances have genuinely changed after your redundancy, for example an unexpected new contract or upturn in demand.
3. A significant period of time has passed and the needs of the business have evolved.
4. The employer is restructuring and the new role, while superficially similar, is part of a genuinely reorganised structure with different requirements.

When it becomes problematic:

If the employer recruits someone into essentially the same role shortly after your departure, it becomes very difficult for the employer to show the redundancy was genuine. The shorter the gap and the more similar the role, the stronger the inference that the redundancy was a sham. This is particularly so if you can show that the recruitment was planned or underway before or at the time you were told about the redundancy.

Unfair dismissal:

If the redundancy was not genuine, you may have a claim for unfair dismissal, provided you have at least two years of continuous service. The employer bears the burden of showing the reason for dismissal. If they say it was redundancy but the evidence suggests otherwise, a tribunal can find the dismissal was unfair.

Even if the redundancy itself was genuine, the process still needs to be fair. This includes proper consultation, a fair selection process, and consideration of suitable alternative employment. If you were not offered the new role and it would have been suitable alternative employment for you, that may also make the dismissal unfair on procedural grounds.

Practical steps:

1. Gather evidence. Look at job adverts, LinkedIn posts, recruitment agency listings, or anything showing the employer was advertising a similar role around the time of your redundancy. Keep copies of your job description, the stated reasons for the redundancy, and any consultation notes.

2. Check your service. If you have less than two years of continuous service, your options for an unfair dismissal claim are limited unless the dismissal was for an automatically unfair reason such as whistleblowing or discrimination.

3. Consider the timeline. If the new hire appeared within weeks or a couple of months, this strengthens your position. If it was six months or more later, the employer has a more credible argument that circumstances changed.

4. Raise a grievance. If you are still within the early stages, a written grievance to your employer setting out your concerns can sometimes lead to a resolution and also shows a tribunal that you acted reasonably.

5. Contact ACAS. Before bringing any employment tribunal claim, you are required to go through ACAS early conciliation. This is a free service and the time limit for bringing a claim is usually three months less one day from the date of dismissal, so do not delay.

6. Consider the strength of your case. If the evidence clearly shows the same role was filled shortly after your departure, you are in a strong position. If the role is materially different, a claim carries more risk.

If you can give me more detail about the timing, the role you held, and what the employer has done since, I can give you a much more specific view on where you stand.