Job re-advertised post redundancy

Hi guys,

I was made redundant on the 4th Dec,having worked at a privately owned motor dealer for 2.5 years,along with 27 other employees across the company's 3 sites.

My position title was Controller/Estimator,my time being split a third controlling and two thirds estimating.Since i have left one of the technicians off the shop floor has been doing the estimates,but i have just seen an advert posted on the 17/12/08 for an Estimator at the company.

Do i have any grounds for unfair dismissal seeing as it has only been a couple of weeks since i was made redundant?

I have read already that there is no time limit for how soon an employer must wait before advertising a position, but i find it incredibly hard to believe they would be allowed to do this.

How close does the job title have to be before it is classed as a different job?

I was not given any chance of downgrading my position whilst going through redundancy either.

Any help would be appreciated,

Thanks,Si.

Hi Si

Thank you for your message. You are right, I'm afraid there is no hard fast rule on time limit where a company can re-deploy. It is down to the context in which your redundancy took place. Can you tell me why you were made redundant? Was there no longer a requirement for the role of Controller/Estimator? Was there a restructure?

A redundancy situation can not only occur as a result of a downturn in business, but also in the expectation of such a downturn. If employers have a reasonable expectation that the business would take a downturn and they were wrong, they can still have a defence that the redundancy was genuine.

During your redundancy consultation period, your employer should have actively investigated the possibility of suitable alternative employment for you. It may be the case that this avenue was not properly explored. It may also be the case that circumstances have changed since you left. Your former employer could argue that there was no prospect of a suitable alternative when you were declared redundant.

If you feel that you were moved out of the company under the guise of redundancy, I would advise that you contact your employer in writing outlining your concerns, seeking clarification of reason for redundancy. You should follow the standard grievance procedure. Ultimately, you can apply to the Employment Tribunals within 3 months of your date of termination to seek a claim for unfair dismissal, but I would advise that you take legal advice before doing so.

I hope this has helped answer your question.

Thanks very much for your reply.

I will explore all the possibilities you have highlighted and take some advice legally after christmas.

Many thanks again,have a good christmas too.

Si.

Hi did you have any reply to this question, the same thing has happened to my husband, he was made redundant on the 19th december 2008 and today on their website his job is advertised, when someone rang for me to see if it was live they were told the job was still going and to send their cv in, - is this legal, I thought you couldn't do this.
Does anyone know if we would be able to take this matter further, its not about money its just made us so angry that they can get away with it.