# can you be made redundant while out sick



## buddy123 (10 Oct 2009)

Hello
I would be grateful if somebody could advise me  regarding following issue?
I am presently out sick for 1 week with a leg injury ? & a numer of people were made redundant within same week. There was email from company saying all relevant people have been informed.Then following day an ex colleage rang me to say he was sorry to hear about my job loss,whereby i informed that i was not made redundant.
Whereby he informed me that he heard from a very reliable source that my name was on the list.So do i stay sick?contact my company by email to say that i am very stressed to hear from a number of sources both within & outside the company that i have been made redundant before i have officially been told.Is this a breach of confidence?also there are a number of contractors working in my company & they are still in employment


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## Bill Struth (13 Oct 2009)

buddy123 said:


> Hello
> I would be grateful if somebody could advise me regarding following issue?
> I am presently out sick for 1 week with a leg injury ? & a numer of people were made redundant within same week. There was email from company saying all relevant people have been informed.Then following day an ex colleage rang me to say he was sorry to hear about my job loss,whereby i informed that i was not made redundant.
> Whereby he informed me that he heard from a very reliable source that my name was on the list.So do i stay sick?contact my company by email to say that i am very stressed to hear from a number of sources both within & outside the company that i have been made redundant before i have officially been told.Is this a breach of confidence?also there are a number of contractors working in my company & they are still in employment


 Yes, you can be made redundant while on sick leave.


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## jhegarty (13 Oct 2009)

Bill Struth said:


> Yes, you can be made redundant while on sick leave.




+1

Maternity leave is only way to be protected.


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## pinkyBear (13 Oct 2009)

They have to contact you though, have you been given anything formally by the company?


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## jhegarty (13 Oct 2009)

pinkyBear said:


> They have to contact you though, have you been given anything formally by the company?



Good point.

The clock won't have started yet on any notice period required.


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## Guest116 (13 Oct 2009)

If you want to drag it out then dont receive any registered post from the postman or the post office!


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## huskerdu (13 Oct 2009)

Either you are to be made redundant when you go back, and someone has blabbed about it, or someone has started a rumour about you with no evidence. 
Either way, if I was you, I would contact the company, explain that you have heard this and ask for clarification, and complain about the information leaking. 

When you suggest staying sick, what do you mean ? You are out sick, for as long as your Doctor considers you unfit to work, its not your choice to decide when you go back.


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## Welfarite (13 Oct 2009)

The OP (who has only made a single post) and asked whether you can be made redundant when out sick. The answer is 'Yes'. 
The OP only heard from a thrird-hand source about the redundancy 'rumour' that 'his name was on a list'. My first action would be to ring the company to find out the true position; ignoring registered letters is just a ridiculoius way to bury your head in the sand. 
And I fail to see how the company can be held to have acted with 'extremely bad form' just because some nosy-parker rang to 'sympathise' with the OP based on info. from another nosy-parker 'reliable source'!


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## Complainer (13 Oct 2009)

jhegarty said:


> Maternity leave is only way to be protected.


DOn't think so. I heard of one person being let from from a large MNC while on maternity.


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## alaskaonline (13 Oct 2009)

*jhegarty* was right - you are protected from redundancy while on maternity leave unless the company goes bankrupt. haven't said that, it doesnt mean they cant make you redundant on the first day you come back.



> heard of one person being let from from a large MNC while on maternity.


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## annjan (13 Oct 2009)

Yes, in my case I have been told I was being made redundant and given 6 weeks notice. I brought forward my maternity leave so that I start it before the notice period of my redundnacy expires. This has the effect of delaying my redundnancy until I finish maternity leave.


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## majicalo (13 Oct 2009)

Check out [broken link removed]
The question regarding the contractors is a separate issue - you may want to seek union or legal advice on this. There are free legal advice clinics in most citizen information services - check out www.citizensinformation.ie


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