Hi all,

I could do with some advice on my situation please: Last week I returned to work after a period of six months absence for cancer treatment. I was aware that whilst I'd be off, someone else would cover my position on a part-time capacity-I work full-time- until I returned as I was the only person in the team.

As soon as I got back last week, I was told by my manager the part-time arrangement with this other person 'worked well' during my absence and she would need now a part-timer and not a full-timer. She then told me if I was interested in this part-time position I would need to be put in the 'selection pool' for redundancy against this other person who was covering my absence.

This is where it gets complicated: this other person who was covering my absence happened to be a person who was working in the same capacity as me but in our second site which was closed last year so she was made redundant whilst she was on maternity leave.
Her redundancy date was 30/04/09 and she received redundancy payment.Her part-time fixed contract covering my absence started on 18/05/09 and in first consultation meeting yesterday my manager argued that since this contract started less than 4 weeks after the end of the previous one, there is continuity of employment hence this person now has got legal rights and they have to be included in the selection pool.

I have done a lot of reading on the internet over the last week and I argued (but not sure if I'm correct) the following: there is no continuity in the contract as there was a clear break of more than a week between her redundancy date and the start of her fixed contract to cover me. Also because this lady was offered redundancy money which she never gave back, this means her fixed term contract to cover my absence has nothing to do with her old contract therefore it was not a reinstatement, though my manager suspiciously now claims it was an automatic reingagement in her old role due to this 'less than 4 weeks' break which I dispute....I think it would have been a re-engagement if my manager had changed her mind back in April and if this lady had given her redundancy money back which she never did!

My consultation is to carry on and it all came as a huge shock to me thinking that it somehow has to do with my cancer treatment and absence...
Can anyone tell me if what I am arguing is correct or if my manager is right???

Many thanks for reading
Tania