Why didn't I find this site two weeks ago? today is already too late.

My husband has just been made redundant. He is the manager of an accident repair centre. He was asked to attend a meeting on 17th and told there and then that he was redundant, out of the blue. The letter they issued after the meeting claimed something different - that it wasn't yet fact, ie that he was in consultation. In the mean time they announced his redundancy to other members of staff imediately. He is the only one to be facing redundancy despite the fact that the company has two other sites which are also performing badly. The other managers were not considered and have slightly different job titles although their function is identical. My husband has manager title, another has suervisor and the third assistant manager - all three sites have the same manager over them.
They have offered him an alternative job - less money, different site and impossible hours for our situation.
I have been trying to persuade him to join a union for the last two years as he has been gagged as a manager and prevented from carrying out the duties outlined in his job description. He has never been allowed to "manage" his site at all and has been undermined at every turn, often in front of staff.
The job he has been offered is - job title "reception supervisor" but they have already informed him that he will be expected to cover any shortage of estimators for example. I forsee that he will end up doing much the same job as he has been doing but with all the extra restrictions of extra hours, less money and difficulty with travel. (he will lose his company car and we have no way of buying a car)
My main question is related to the "suitabilty" of the alternative job offer, as I am worried to death that when he turns it down as he intends to, it will be deemed a "suitable" position and he will lose the small redundancy payment as will as his wages.
In some ways this is purely academic as his time is up today and he has to give his answer....but I would like to know what our chances are.

Only an employment tribunal can tell you definitively whether or not the alternative is suitable, but if you give us an idea of how much less money, more hours, more travelling etc., we may be able to give you an idea of the prospects.

Bear in mind that he is entitled to a statutory four-week trial period in any alternative post too.

His current post is £26k plus company car. Post offered is £20k.
Current job is 8.30-5.30 with a good amount of flexibility which has allowed us to take for granted (I suppose) the fact that he can collect our six year old daughter at 6pm as I am still working at that time and am self employed. He is also able to visit his 80 year old mother at lunch times - there is no other family locally enough to see her on a daily basis.
Job offered is actually the same hours so I wasn't strictly saying the right thing about hours BUT current post is ten minutes from home, the new post without a car would involve three buses and about an hour and a half travelling time each way. An hour in a car potentially. In mileage it isn't very far (about 10/12 miles) but in a really awkward place to get to in rush hour.
This all sounds rather petty as I write but the impact on the family would be horrid. He is 51 with high blood pressure already and has been miserable working fo this company. I guess this is a major reason for us to turn the job down but not to a tribunal.

That four week trial period would only cancel out his notice though wouldn't it? He wants that time to get out there and look for work. WHen you are working what will effectively end up being 7-7 every day that doesn't leave much energy for job hunting.....

I think it is borderline whether this would be considered suitable - the pay cut is your strongest if not only argument - but in the current climate tribunals are expecting people to be more 'realistic' about the alternatives available.

If he wants out anyway then maybe he should refuse it and see what they do - if it is a small amount of money they may be less inclined to argue about it.

On balance I think refusing would be borderline if the employer decided that they had offered a reasonable alternative (which they do not have to do - they could just agree and make him redundant). The difference in salary is borderline although the car as a benefit would probably tip this in his favour as unsuitable. But collecting your child / visiting mother are not formal responsibilities as in parental / carer responsibilities - requests for flexible working if these applied are entirely separate and not part of the process of determining the suitability of a job as an alternative. The distance defintely won't cut any argument either - time wise it might have worked if it weren't for the fact that the distance is so small, so he would striuggle with any job if rush hour traffic is so bad where you live that 10 miles takes over an hour..

Thankyou for your help on this Jarndyce, much appreciated! He has just called me to tell me he has a cheque in his hand - it is only a small amount so they haven't argued. All we have to do now is get him another job!! I knew that this was probably borderline as I know that if I didn't know the circumstances I would be completely shocked at somebody else not taking the alternative job in the current climate. It is hard to find out where the line is on these things.
I just wish that it was easier to get advice out there if you aren't a member of a union and haven't got money for solicitors fees. Our local CAB is about as much use as a chocolate teapot. Our nearest law centre refused to help as they still counted husbands earnings.......

Thank you SarEl for your input. Exactly the response I had expected. FYI where we live isn't that bad for traffic it is where the other work site is located. I could probably travel about 40 miles in any other direction in an hour in rush hour from where we live. The site is just close enough to a city centre with poor traffic controls to cause huge problems.

As for the childcare and Mother visiting issues; I realise that they are not employer's concerns but they are the only things that have made the job anywhere close to bearable. My income is all we have now and needs to be protected at all costs so any job he takes will need him to be available by 6pm. His Mother will understand, we all know that - but it doesn't alter the fact that she is basically housebound and will be on her own all week. What would you choose?

I do understand how difficult these sorts of choices are for people. In the end the only right answer is the one that you can live with.