How much time needs to pass before we can recruit into a role after we made it redundant?

There is no fixed period of time that an employer needs to let pass before they can recruit into a position that was previously made redundant.

Employers do need to consider if recruiting to a role that was made redundant would undermine the fairness of the original decision to dismiss, and if the ex-employee would regard the reason for their dismissal to be fair or genuine if the company recruits too soon.

We would recommend a minimum timeline of three months before recruiting into the role. This corresponds with the three-month limitation period for an ex-employee to raise a tribunal claim.

However each situation does need to be considered on the facts of the case. Take for example a situation where an employer has had a decline in orders and work volumes and decides to reduce headcount and make a role redundant. If a month after the redundancy a new order is won and work volumes ramp back up then it almost certainly going to be reasonable for that employer to recruit into a post that was recently made redundant.