Can I be made redundant and then rehired by the same employer?

There is no law that prevents an employer from making you redundant and then offering you a new job — even in the same or similar role. However, the redundancy must be genuine at the time it was declared. If you are made redundant and then rehired into an identical role within a short period (often cited as a few months in HMRC guidance), this raises a strong inference that the redundancy was not genuine — and may mean you were entitled to statutory redundancy pay that the employer is trying to avoid paying.

HMRC looks closely at 'phoenix' redundancies — situations where an employer makes staff redundant to avoid paying ongoing employment costs, then rehires them as self-employed contractors or re-engages them through a new entity. If HMRC concludes the redundancy was a sham, the employer may face tax penalties and the employee may have NI contribution gaps.

If you are made redundant and genuinely rehired into a new role, a new period of continuous employment begins. You lose the service years built up before the redundancy for most purposes — though if your new contract includes a continuity preservation clause, or if the break is less than 1 week, statutory rules may preserve some continuity. Always check what your new contract says about treatment of previous service.