It sounds like point 2 is to do with a law which only applies if the person or persons were made redundant
My wife was made redundant from her job as a receptionist in a dental centre. By law, they were not allowed to hire a new member of staff into the company with the job as a receptionist unless they offered her that post back first.
( Jeccius Steam Borderlands 2 junkie, Thu 10 Jun 2010, 17:24, 1 reply)

See, that would make sense
But we checked this rule out (in a kind of, "They can't be serious!" light,) and it specifies that it still applies if the person quit, died, resigned etc. But if someone's fired then they can hire right away. Someone suggested it's something to do with "respecting their academic skills" or something, but surely there's more respect in sustaining the field than having a gap?
(Sivvus trolley collision in the fruit aisle led to a jam, Thu 10 Jun 2010, 17:32, closed)

Sounds like a cost-saving-by-extended-interregnum exercise.
( Yell Whoop continued to be a nin-com-poop on, Thu 10 Jun 2010, 21:59, closed)