Alternative employment

I have just recieved notice of redundancy and have not had my consultancy meetings as yet. If my employer offers me alternative employment can I refuse on grounds of salary reductions or will this compromise my redundancy payments?

Hi Kathdun

Thank you for your message although I am sorry to hear you may be made redundant.

Your employer should hold meaningful consultation with you which explores ways of avoiding the redundancy or mitigating the effects.

Your employer should be looking at suitable alternative employment for you. If you aren't interested in alternative employment offers, you can tell your employer this and they will then not make them. This won't be taken as a unreasonably refused and you would be entitled to receive redundancy payment.

If your employer offers you alternative employment, it is up to your employer to prove that the offer was suitable and any refusal unreasonable. Unfortunately there is very little guidance through case law which gives guidance as to what an employee should refuse and it does depend on the situation. However, suitability tends to come down to factors such as pay, status, hours, location etc. How reasonable a refusal is, is then down to factors including your domestic situation.

In my experience, I have rarely seen cases where an employer refuses to pay redundancy where an employee has refused an alternative offer where there is a large difference in pay.

Talk to your employer about your concerns about a drop in salary and considering any position which may pay less.

I hope this advice has helped. Please reply if you need any further help or to update us with your situation.