Alternative employment

Case 1: the facts

Eighteen months after surviving a restructuring exercise, section head Ms Ward was again told she was at risk of redundancy. She was offered alternative work which she rejected as being unsuitable because of a loss of status and future job prospects. Her employer said she was not entitled to redundancy pay because she had unreasonably refused an offer of alternative employment. An employment tribunal found that there was a difference between the old and the new jobs but nevertheless the new job was a suitable alternative. However, the employer’s delay in discussing the job with Ward, and their failure to tell her it was being advertised externally, meant it was not unreasonable of her to turn it down.

The ruling

Upholding the tribunal’s decision that Ward’s rejection of suitable alternative employment was reasonable, the EAT commented that although the “suitability” of alternative work and the “reasonableness” of the employee’s refusal of it are separate tests, in a case where a job is only marginally suitable a tribunal can take this into account when considering whether the employer was reasonable in refusing it.