Going back to old jobs...

[Mikey G]

I was made redundant from a role from a company in October 2012, I had been there for 12 years and the final 2 years were in a different role. I had took the job on after 10 years in the manufacturing department, anyway I found out the old role I left in 2010 with the company has come up for grabs again and i'm interested in returning. I was even contacted by a local agency asking me if I was interested in looking at the role, in fairness he had an old CV and the company had changed hands since I updated so they didn't realise it was my old company

I have contacted them to see where the ground lies with regards to me making an application for my old job, anyway the HR girl told me that there is a law stopping employers re taking on old employees for 2 years after they were made redundant from the company, is this true? Its been over 18 months since I was let go with a tidy pay off, and i'm not happy about the company I currently work for.

Cheers

[edc]

There is no such law. If the role was genuinely redundant at the time then times and business changes. If there is a genuine business requirement for a role then you can be re-employed.

[_Deano]

I've done this in the past.
I was contracting at one place via a contracting agency for a period of 6 months, but the CIO at the time then decided that they didn't want any contractors, so we were all booted out.
I was fortunate to find another role for 3 months, but towards of the end of that contract I was contact by a new manager from the previous place. Apparently the old CIO had departed from the company not long after me, but he left a st heap that needed cleaning up, and was asked to come back to help.

Because i was asked by a manager, we were able to circumvent an agency and thus my day rate went up, and the company's cost came down, so everyone was happy. I was there for two years until i moved on.

I think that you will need to see what may have been written in your old contract, if you still have it; to see what is states about a being re-employed?
I think that they call it a 'warranty period' or at least that it what is written on my new/current contract. There is a clause that now states that i cannot be employed/contracted directly with the company for a period of 6 months, unless a big wedge of cash is submitted to the current contracting agent.
After that time is free game.

[supertouring]

As above, it is the role that is redundant.

I went back to a job after 4 years, basically doing the same role as I did previously (title was different).

[Mikey G]

Just to clarify, I wasn't made redundant from this role, I left it in 2010 to start a new role within the company that was then made redundant after 2 years so I left in 2012. Now my old position that was filled during that time has come back up.

So there is no such law that stops them re employing me within 2 years of redundancy? Maybe they just don't want me back

[davepoth]

Mikey G said:

Just to clarify, I wasn't made redundant from this role, I left it in 2010 to start a new role within the company that was then made redundant after 2 years so I left in 2012. Now my old position that was filled during that time has come back up.

So there is no such law that stops them re employing me within 2 years of redundancy? Maybe they just don't want me back

Possibly. But it's more likely that the HR person didn't know what they were talking about. I know it's hard to believe.

[The Beaver King]

Very roughly (someone more knowledgable can correct me), if a role (and person) is made redundant, that position cannot be refilled by somebody else for two years. If they decide to reopen the role within that time, they have to offer it to the person made redundant.
I believe it's to stop companies getting rid of certain people by making a role redundant and then replacing them with somebody else.

That said, the job you're now looking at is not the one you were made redundant from, so there shouldn't be an issue. As long as it was the role and not the person made redundant, then everything should be fine.

Word of warning, they may have claim to take back your redundancy package as it's within a particular period. As said, somebody more knowledgable should be able to confirm/refute.

[Du1point8]

If the role was made redundant and the OP took a compromise agreement, I thought the 18month rule was to stop abuse of making someone redundant on friday, then hiring them back as a contractor on monday.

[Matt UK]

I've been made redundant and part of the offer was that I could not apply / be made an offer by the company for a period of 2 years. It was their standard practice.

[edc]

Matt UK said:

I've been made redundant and part of the offer was that I could not apply / be made an offer by the company for a period of 2 years. It was their standard practice.

Was that written into a compromise agreement? If so then it's contractual rather than a statutory obligation.

[Matt UK]

edc said:

Matt UK said:

I've been made redundant and part of the offer was that I could not apply / be made an offer by the company for a period of 2 years. It was their standard practice.

Was that written into a compromise agreement? If so then it's contractual rather than a statutory obligation.

It was indeed.

[mph1977]

Du1point8 said:

If the role was made redundant and the OP took a compromise agreement, I thought the 18month rule was to stop abuse of making someone redundant on friday, then hiring them back as a contractor on monday.

No it's to stop them from making someone redundant because they don't like them and then replacing them 6 weeks later with their pet patsy.