Redundancy whilst on sick leave

Hi. I have only worked for my employer for 5 months part time. I am currently on sick leave with a mental health problem and have been off work for 3 weeks. I have been receiving e-mails and phone calls from my employer requesting my medical records and trying to arrange a meeting to help me return to work. I told my employer that I do not yet feel able to meet them or return to work. 2 days later I received a letter making me redundant. Can they do this?

Yes. You can be dismissed for any non-discriminatory reason in the first year of employment.

Of course, given that this is a mental health issue, if this isn't the first occurence then there may be an argument that it is discriminatory, but there simply aren't enough details here to tell, and you haven't helped at all by refusing to co-operate with the employer. You may not have been able to return to work, but why could you not meet with them - the request wasn't unreasonable.