re-employment
Low-MediumFormal, Business, Official
Definition
Meaning
The act or instance of being employed again, especially in the same or a similar job.
The process or policy of returning individuals (e.g., after redundancy, illness, or a career break) to paid work, often involving retraining or support.
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
Typically implies a return to work after an interruption. Can refer to an individual's situation or a broader government/company programme.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
Spelling with a hyphen (re-employment) is common in both, but the closed form 'reemployment' is slightly more frequent in American English.
Connotations
In policy contexts, it often carries a positive connotation of economic recovery or social support. In individual contexts, it can be neutral or carry a sense of relief.
Frequency
More frequent in American English in formal business and policy documents.
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
re-employment of [former staff]re-employment after [redundancy/illness]re-employment in [a new role]re-employment with [the same company]Vocabulary
Synonyms
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “[get/be] back on the payroll”
- “[get] your old job back”
Usage
Context Usage
Business
Refers to company policies for hiring former employees or supporting laid-off workers.
Academic
Used in labour economics and sociology studies analysing post-redundancy outcomes.
Everyday
Less common; might be used when discussing someone getting their old job back.
Technical
Featured in HR manuals and legal documents regarding employment rights and contracts.
Examples
By Part of Speech
verb
British English
- The company policy is to re-employ former staff where possible.
- He hopes to be re-employed after his recovery.
American English
- The firm decided to reemploy the laid-off workers.
- She was reemployed in a different department.
adjective
British English
- She attended a re-employment workshop.
- The re-employment prospects were good.
American English
- He is in a reemployment training program.
- They discussed reemployment options.
Examples
By CEFR Level
- After his holiday, he got his job back. This is re-employment.
- She was happy about her re-employment at the shop.
- The factory offered re-employment to most of the workers after the renovation.
- His re-employment contract was for one year.
- Government schemes aim to facilitate the re-employment of veterans in the civilian workforce.
- Securing re-employment after a long illness can be challenging.
- The study analysed the correlation between age and the likelihood of successful re-ployment following corporate downsizing.
- The union negotiated strong re-employment rights as part of the redundancy agreement.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think: 'RE' (again) + 'EMPLOYMENT' (a job) = getting a job AGAIN.
Conceptual Metaphor
RETURNING TO THE FOLD (being brought back into a working community).
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Avoid confusing with 'переобучение' (retraining), which is a means to re-employment but not the same.
- Do not translate as 'повторная занятость' in all contexts; 'повторное трудоустройство' is more accurate.
- The prefix 're-' is not always translated as 'ре-' in Russian; the concept is often rendered with 'повторный' or 'снова'.
Common Mistakes
- Misspelling as 'reemployment' without a hyphen (acceptable but less common in UK English).
- Using it interchangeably with 'new employment' (re-employment specifically implies a previous connection).
- Incorrect stress: placing primary stress on the first syllable 'RE-employ-ment' instead of 'ploy'.
Practice
Quiz
In which context is 're-employment' LEAST likely to be used?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Not exactly. Re-employment specifically implies a return to work, often with the same employer or in the same field, after a break. A new job doesn't necessarily have that previous connection.
It is commonly hyphenated, especially in British English, to avoid the awkward double 'e' (reemployment). However, the closed form is also accepted, particularly in American English.
It can be, but the focus is on the act of becoming employed again after a period without work. If the change is radical, phrases like 'career change' or 'new employment' might be more precise.
Generally, yes. It carries connotations of recovery, opportunity, and economic or personal improvement. However, in some contexts, it might be a neutral administrative term.