Hi my girlfriends post, among others, has been made redundant.

Hello, my name is XXXXX XXXXX it is my pleasure to be able to assist with your question today. Please let me know if her request for VR was formally accepted by the employer and confirmed to her?

When a redundancy situation arises, an employer has a duty to consider and offer the affected employees any suitable alternative employment (“SAE”) that may exist at the time. The objective is to keep the employee in employment rather than make them redundant.

If an employee accepts an offer of SAE, their employment will continue in the new position and they would lose their entitlement to a redundancy payment.

If the offer is considered unsuitable and the employee refuses it, they will still keep their entitlement to redundancy pay. However, if an offer of SAE has been made and the employee unreasonably refuses it, they would lose their entitlement to redundancy pay.

The factors that would usually make an offer unsuitable or a refusal reasonable are as follows:

• Job content and status – e.g. drop in status or level, substantial differences in duties, etc.;


• Pay and other benefits – e.g. significant drop in earnings, including basic pay, bonuses, overtime, sick pay, holiday entitlement, etc.;


• Working hours – e.g. change in shift pattern, removal of overtime, extension/reduction of working hours;


• Change of workplace – e.g. if a place of work changes and the employee’s personal circumstances make it unreasonable for them to travel to their new place of work.


• Job prospects – e.g. going from permanent to temporary work, changing to being self-employed or being employed on a fixed-term contract.

If the employer makes an offer of alternative employment, where the terms and conditions differ from their current ones, the employee has the right to a 4-week trial period in that job, which can be extended by mutual consent. If during or immediately after the trial period they decide against taking the job then they should tell their employer straight away. This will not affect their employment rights, including their right to receive statutory redundancy pay.

So her best chance of arguing for redundancy is to claim that what has been offered to her is not suitable, for example because it is no longer a permanent position or if the duties are different.

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