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Can I Take on More Staff After Making Person Redundant?

By: Emma Eilbeck BA (hons) - Updated: 11 Mar 2021 | comments*Discuss
 
Redundant Employers Staff Redundancies

Q.

If I were to make a member of staff redundant due to the economic downturn, would I be able take on more staff when and if things pick up?

(M.W, 8 July 2009)

A.

As the credit crunch takes hold more employers are being forced to shed members of their workforce in order to keep costs down. The last thing you want to do is appear insensitive to any loyal staff you have had to make redundant, but it may be you need to recruit more staff into other areas of the business.

But before you embark on any redundancies make sure that the person’s job has actually become redundant.Redundancy means that their role no longer exists or there will be less demand for their job in the foreseeable future.

For example, if you employ a group of builders and there is no work for them for the next six months you will need to make some redundant. But if there is work coming in that you know about, be careful not to use redundancy as an excuse to get rid of some dead wood within the workplace, or you could find yourself in hot water.

There are no set rules as to how long you have to wait before recruiting extra staff but you could land yourself in a legal battle if you take on somebody to do a job that has just been made redundant.

If however you are recruiting to the same role because you have won a new contract or some extra business has unexpectedly come your way, this is acceptable.

But to be on the safe side, if you are thinking of taking on any new recruits after making redundancies you should make sure their job role differs to that of the people you have just made redundant. If you are already thinking about taking on a new member of staff in that same role you should ask yourself why you need to make that person redundant in the first instance.

One potential grey area within redundancy law is when you are genuinely cutting down your workforce but you make one member of staff redundant and place an existing employee into their role. This is generally deemed to be acceptable as long as you have reduced the overall size of the workforce and you can prove there is a genuine need for doing so.

If you are making more than 20 staff redundant you will need to go through a consultation period for 30 days. You should also do everything to can to help place them somewhere else within the business and consult their trade union – if they have one.

It is not uncommon for staff that have been made redundant to seek their revenge on employers through unfair dismissal charges. It is important that when you make redundancies you can prove that their job is no longer needed or there will be less demand for it in the future, as long as you follow these rules you should not land yourself in hot water.

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I have not yet been made redundant but I am at risk this is because they have closed down another store and they want to make it“ fair” to both store colleges to have the chance to remain working at the only store left open Can they do this?
Chelly - 11-Mar-21 @ 4:14 AM
I was made redundant end of August but they are advertising my job again. They started advertising in January for finance assistant which was my job title. Is this allowed. I had been with company 5 years
Libby - 4-Feb-21 @ 1:43 PM
I’ve been made redundant and still on garden leave but now they are employing an interim to do my exact job - is this allowed
Mky100 - 18-Jan-21 @ 3:29 PM
I was made redundant a week ago due to the work slowing down due to COVID 19 but have seen my role advertised since then I have worked there 9 months
Lee - 9-Dec-20 @ 12:39 PM
"to seek their revenge on employers through unfair dismissal charges..." That sounds a little unfair on the employee, but it shows that this company views people as angry and vindictive, rather than acknowledging the trauma that people with families and commitments go through when employers throw staff under a bus to maximise their profits or simply cut staff to safeguard salaries of the highest paid. If you work in a company that doesn't value their staff and carry out the redundancy process in away that makes the employee feel like they are a throw away commodity the employee will feel attacked and victimised. It is important that the process is carried out in a sensitive way, that the gravitas of the situation is such that even the CEO takes time out and gets to chat with people who are at risk, they should be open and honest about the situation and make sure that they make the employee feel that they are doing all they can to prevent the loss of jobs. That they are cutting costs at all levels and going through a process where job losses are a last resort. The lack of honesty and transparency and proper consultation is what drives staff towards tribunals, employers need to acknowledge that people have feelings and that redundancy is a very distressing experience, employers need to go the extra mile, acknowledge the contribution that the employee has made to the company, find some great things they have done during their employment.
Steams - 5-Nov-20 @ 10:55 AM
I was made redundant at the end of july due to covid.I found out today they have taken on a new member of staff to fill my position can they do that.They knew once the restrictions were lifted and the building trade picked up again there would be plenty of work for the fencing team which i was part of.I was not offered the position to go back.The reason for redundacy was any non drivers could not be employed due to only having 1 person per van yet we have seen the vehicles with 2 or more in
Dave - 22-Oct-20 @ 4:38 PM
I was made redundant 'due to covid affecting the firm' in April. They are now advertising my old job and another position. This is a firm of solicitors in Bournemouth and they refused furlough.
Zsuzsa - 17-Oct-20 @ 1:14 PM
I was made redundant after 16 years at the end of August and have just found out that 1 month later the role has been filled, is this legal and how can I fight it
Jacs - 2-Oct-20 @ 1:06 PM
Thankfully I haven’t been made redundant, but I have been moved to a support role as part of a restructure and my old role in delivery has been filled by an external candidate. I have worked with my company for 14 years, have never had poor performance review and, I have not had any communication regarding these changes. I appreciate that flexibility clauses allow changes to be made, but this seems very underhanded and demoralising. Finding information on this scenario is quite difficult as unprecedented. Is this legal?
Stu - 12-Sep-20 @ 12:49 PM
My position has been “made redundant” due to Covid-19 at the end of July at the beginning of august they took on 2 new part time staff and made a part time person full time to cover the work. can they do this? i was not offered to go part time instead of being made redundant?
Nick - 6-Sep-20 @ 6:19 PM
My position has been “made redundant” due to Covid-19 at the end of July but they have now taken on a new person in my position. Can they do this?
Glitzy McJingles - 2-Sep-20 @ 2:30 PM
I work for a small company. Two of the staff have been made redundant, and I was the "chosen one".. but I have since been offered another job. Will they then be allowed to hire other people or will this leave them in a sticky situation?
starfish12 - 31-Aug-20 @ 1:31 PM
I’ve been made redundant but now they are employing an intern to do my exact job - is this allowed?
Willow - 31-Aug-20 @ 8:56 AM
Several people working for a certain gym lost their jobs back in July with Covid being used as the excuse. This same gym is now advertising full-time and part-time positions for the same role. Is this legal?
Jd - 30-Aug-20 @ 11:16 AM
Hello I have just been made redundant along with 40 other people, wefinish on 28th August. I have just been informed that the company are now taking on agency workers, isn’t this against the law and unethical
John - 24-Aug-20 @ 6:23 PM
I am currently serving redundancy notice in my role as an in house designer in the hospitality sector. Can my employer use agencies or freelancers for design work going forward if they have let me go? They have offered me a set number of freelance hours a week but I worry they will slowly reduce and go with an agency. Any help would be much appreciated.
Reeve - 18-Aug-20 @ 8:47 PM
I Finnish my position tomorrow but I have been on gardening leave since Tuesday. Already they have had an alternative member of staff doing my runaround driving job as there is no one else to fill my boots. Is this legal?
sainys - 13-Aug-20 @ 5:14 PM
If I get made redundant Due to company restructure and as I am the only member of staff with my job title, Which now does not exist. Can the company then promote a current member of staff into my position, which is technically one above.
John A - 12-Aug-20 @ 7:14 PM
My daughter was furloughed due to covid 19, her boss told her if she took another job she could not work for them, so although she had been offered a job she declined it, to stay true to the company. A few weeks later she was then made redundant! Her job was then advertised, is this legal? She had only worked there for 4 months and there had been no issues with her work.
leslee - 30-Jul-20 @ 10:07 PM
My boss has made me and my colleagues redundant after she anounced that she was retiring from the cafe she owns with her brother, he has now re opened the cafe and employed new staff and also a lady that worked there with us , is he allowed to do this? Thankyou
Debs - 23-Jul-20 @ 5:47 PM
My company wants to fire and rehire 42000 staff because of COVID-19. Yes you heard correctly. They are also making 12000 redundant. They have offered me £25000 VR. They said if I don’t take the VR by 3rd August 2020 I will have to take the chance to see if they rehire me. If I’m not successful and they don’t rehire me then they said that I will not get VR and they will only offer CR of £12000. Unbelievable. Can this be seen as some kind of corporate blackmail or bullying me to leave? I certainly feel bullied. Any advice would be gratefully received.
Dan - 23-Jul-20 @ 1:54 AM
I have now been made redundant after 17 years with the company as a senior role ,, along with other long serving members ?? Others younger and less skilled are still there doing my job ,, is this fair ??? Pls advice ...
BLONDE - 17-Jul-20 @ 1:22 AM
Worked for company for 7yrs,I started of as a fitter for a portacabin company.Later in the 1st year I was ask to be the Forman which I was in job before so I accepted.5yrs later still doing formans job and looking after the lads I had working with me,I was asked if I would be the ward manager too.A pay rise was promised but never got it.The recent yard manager who’s job I replaced went into the office to be the manager over all of us.I was enjoying the job and worked extremely hard.I was then furloughed due to covidand working for a portacabin company who specialises in Events the work stopped for this year.Ive recently been made redundant from my job and have recently found all of the lads that work for me are still at work and the manager has gone back in the yard to do my job. Do they have rights to do this
Brims - 12-Jul-20 @ 1:15 AM
my role is at risk and is still required. I’m the only person doing my job but my role is being replaced by a higher grade role taking on some more responsibility. I have been in the job 1 year. Is this fair?
MD - 3-Jul-20 @ 5:12 AM
I was made redundant a couple of years ago and the process used was in my opinion biased from the start and quite obvious set up not in my favour. However, I knew I would be going so took positive steps forward for myself. I have since found out my position has since been advertised and filled by someone who made no attempt at the time that she wanted my role and has now got it. This was common knowledge and I have been kept informed. Is this right that the same position that I was made redundant from has been advertised and given to a former colleague?
Tower - 2-Jul-20 @ 10:31 AM
If you have two people in a similar role and the employer states both roles are going, but, wishes to select one of the two to continue, in this case, a young female with small amount of years service or an old male with many years experience, which would you go for?
Anon III - 30-Jun-20 @ 1:09 PM
I have been given redundancy”job at risk” from work they need to cut our sales department from 10 people down to 6 loosing 4 staff, but then on the other hand closing another site and creating 6 more sales roles on the site I’m on now, saying there points are higher than mine so people from another site get my job. Is this normal? How can they get rid of me and open up 6 more jobs for other people of a closed site?
Jor - 24-Jun-20 @ 1:13 PM
So the company I work for have announced that they will be making a lot of staff redundant, but they havent said how many, or when it will be announced, they have now said we will have to wait another week, but they are training staff in the mean time, so to me they have already picked their team of staff they want to keep but leaving the rest of us wondering if our jobs are safe, any advice on what any of us can do or if they are sticking by the rules.
Paris Kodola - 23-Jun-20 @ 9:13 AM
I am the only person being made redundant on 'inancial grounds' even though I am one of the lowest paid. They say my manager will take on all of my full time role although he is already doing a full time role. The company is operating at full capacity. I am.the only admin in the department and my work is compliance so vital for the company. I feel they chose me as they want the previous employee back despite me being there over 2 years.
Pumpkin - 20-Jun-20 @ 6:51 AM
I have currently been put at risk because a company is going through a cost cutting exercise. My employer has used a scoring matrix which is based on an opinion. For some reason I was asked to be scored by 3 people, which none of them I deal with on a daily basis. Matrix criteria is very subjective meaning it is based on an opinionone of the people scoring me is biased and has previously told me that he would not hire me for the job, I dont even report to him. I have made hr aware of this incident. The other girl in the pool is only scored by her direct manager. Anyway, when asked why redundancy is being discussed and not other means like reduced pay or reduced hours I wasbeing told that it is the headcount the need to cut. My job still exists as a new 3 year project has started last week with no one else with the same job title doing my role. Proof of that we arebusy is my overtime that has been approved and proves that volume of work is there. So this just seems like a cost cutting exercise as my duties will be passed on to someone else.
Mk - 14-Jun-20 @ 8:29 AM
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