What Happens When Your ‘Redundant’ Job Still Exists

Many employees who are made redundant assume that their employer had no choice — that the role truly no longer existed. But what if the company hires someone new shortly after you’re shown the door? Or if your duties continue under a different title? It’s a question more common than you might think: was that redundancy even real?

Under Australian workplace law, employers are allowed to make positions redundant due to genuine changes in their business. But not all redundancies are what they seem. In some cases, “redundancy” is used as a cover to remove an employee for other reasons — and if that’s what happened to you, you may have a right to challenge it through an unfair dismissal application.

The Fair Work Act sets a clear test: a dismissal can only be considered a genuine redundancy if your employer no longer requires your job to be done by anyone. That means the actual duties you performed — not just your job title — must no longer exist within the company.

So if your former duties were simply redistributed to others, absorbed into a newly created role, or taken over by someone new shortly after you left, the redundancy may not be genuine. Timing and substance matter. It doesn’t have to be a carbon copy of your job — but if the work you were doing continues under a different label, the law may see straight through it.

In those cases, the redundancy becomes questionable — and your dismissal may be found to be harsh, unjust or unreasonable. That could entitle you to compensation, a hearing, or even reinstatement, depending on your circumstances.

Some employers will argue that they "restructured" the business. And while they may tweak reporting lines or change job titles, what often happens behind the scenes is far less dramatic — the same work is simply shuffled around. When that occurs, the role hasn’t disappeared. You have. And the Commission takes that seriously.

It’s also common for employers to hire someone new into a role that sounds different on paper, but includes the very same core responsibilities you had. If that new job was advertised or filled shortly after your dismissal, that’s a major red flag. It could suggest that the redundancy was a convenient excuse, not a genuine operational need.

You also have a right to be considered for redeployment. If there were other suitable roles available at the time of your dismissal — especially ones you were qualified for — your employer should have explored those options with you. Their failure to do so could render the dismissal unfair, even if some changes in the business were taking place.

Being made redundant is hard enough. But being told your job was no longer needed — only to watch someone else take over the same role, or see your tasks handed out to others — can be devastating. And in many cases, it’s unlawful.

You may feel anxious about questioning the decision. That’s completely natural. But remember: you have a legal right to challenge a redundancy if it wasn’t genuine. You don’t need to have all the answers — just enough to ask the right questions. The Fair Work Commission will consider whether your job truly disappeared, and whether you were treated fairly in the process.

You have 21 calendar days from the date your dismissal takes effect to lodge an unfair dismissal application. After that, it becomes extremely difficult to proceed, so don’t delay.

At Workplace Justice, we understand how subtle — and strategic — some of these decisions can be. We’ll help you look beyond the surface, gather the facts, and assess whether your redundancy was lawful, or simply labelled that way.

If your job didn’t disappear — and someone else just walked into it — you may be entitled to fight back.