Grounds for refusing suitable alternative employment

You have been offered another job instead of redundancy. Before you say yes or no, you need to know what suitable alternative employment means. If the role is suitable and you refuse it without a good reason, you can lose your statutory redundancy pay.

Your employer does not get to decide suitability on their own. The law looks at the work, the pay, the hours, the place and your circumstances. This post sets out what GOV.UK, Acas and the Employment Rights Act 1996 say, and how to put your reasons in writing.

This is information, not legal advice. It covers England, Scotland and Wales. For advice on your own situation, contact Acas on 0300 123 1100 or Citizens Advice.

What suitable alternative employment means

Your employer should try to find you another job in the organisation. GOV.UK sets this out under suitable alternative employment (checked October 2026). Acas covers the same rules in your rights during redundancy (checked October 2026).

A role is more likely to be suitable when:

• the work is similar to what you do now
• pay, hours, location and status are similar
• it matches your skills and experience

It does not have to be the same job with a new title. A change of team, a shift in duties or a modest change in hours can still be suitable. What matters is the whole package, not one line of the job description.

The offer has to come from your employer, an associated employer, or the new owner if the business is transferring. Under section 141 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (checked October 2026), it must be made before your current job ends. The new job must start immediately or within 4 weeks of the old one ending. An offer that arrives after you have left, or that would start later than that, is not the kind that can take away your redundancy pay. Unreasonably ending a trial period can also lose redundancy pay under section 141(4).

If you are pregnant, or you are on maternity, adoption, shared parental, neonatal care or bereaved partner’s paternity leave, you must be offered a suitable vacancy ahead of other employees where one exists. After maternity or adoption leave the protection lasts until 18 months after the birth or adoption. After shared parental, neonatal care or bereaved partner’s paternity leave it applies only if you took at least 6 weeks in one block. Ordinary paternity leave is not covered. Acas explains this in redundancy protection for pregnancy and new parents (checked October 2026).

What happens if you refuse

Section 141 says you are not entitled to a redundancy payment if you unreasonably refuse an offer of suitable employment.

You do not lose the money just because you said no. Two questions sit behind it:

1. Was the job suitable?
2. Was your refusal reasonable, looking at your circumstances?

If the job was not suitable, that rule does not take your redundancy pay away. If it was suitable, the next question is whether you had a good reason to refuse.

Only an employment tribunal can decide those questions if you and your employer disagree. If you are unsure, speak to Acas before you turn the role down.

Grounds that can count as a good reason

There is no official list of approved grounds. GOV.UK and Acas point to the nature of the work, pay, status, hours, location, and your personal circumstances, including health.

Difference	Why it can matter	What to keep
Pay is a lot lower	A big drop in pay, or the loss of regular overtime, shift pay or allowances, can make a role unsuitable	Current contract, new offer, recent payslips
Status is lower	A move down in seniority or responsibility can count	Job descriptions, reporting lines, person specs
Hours are very different	Nights, weekends, shifts, or a jump between part-time and full-time	Rotas, contracted hours, any limits you have already given your employer
Location is much further	Extra travel time or cost can be a good reason	Both commutes, cost, any mobility clause
The work is substantially different	Duties you are not skilled or trained to do	Person spec, training on offer, your experience
Health or safety	The role would affect a health condition or disability	Occupational health reports, fit notes, risk assessments

None of these is a guaranteed way to refuse. A small pay cut, a slightly longer drive or a new title on similar work may still be suitable. A large cut, a move that adds a lot to your working day, or work you cannot reasonably do is more likely to be worth raising.

If your employer has not told you the pay, hours, location, start date or duties, ask for them in writing. You cannot fairly accept or refuse a role you have not been given the facts for.

Personal circumstances count when they are specific. A commute you cannot manage, hours that clash with a health condition, or a site you cannot reach by public transport are the sorts of points that matter. A general wish for something closer to your old job is weaker on its own.

The 4-week trial period

You can usually try the new job for 4 weeks without giving up your redundancy pay. That trial is in section 138 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (checked October 2026). You and your employer can agree a longer trial in writing, before it starts, if you need retraining.

If you stop during the trial because the job is not suitable, you are treated as redundant from the old role and you can still receive redundancy pay. You lose redundancy pay only if you unreasonably terminate the trial and the job is suitable. You must tell your employer within the 4-week trial period that the job is unsuitable, otherwise you lose your right to statutory redundancy pay. GOV.UK explains this under suitable alternative employment.

Use the trial if the role might work. Keep a short note of what is different: the first payslip, the actual hours, the travel, the work itself. If you decide it is not suitable, tell your employer in writing before the 4 weeks end.

How to put your reasons in writing

Do not leave this to a conversation. Ask for the offer in writing first. Then reply in writing if you are refusing, accepting on a trial, or asking your employer to keep looking.

Say, calmly and specifically:

• which parts of the role differ from your current job
• why those differences matter for you
• what you would need in order to consider it, such as a written 4-week trial or a role closer to your current pay and hours
• that you still want other suitable vacancies to be considered

Second Wind’s guide to suitable alternative employment walks through these rules in the same order. If you want the request on paper, there is a letter that asks your employer to look for other suitable work and to put any offer in writing. It is assembled from fixed paragraphs prepared in advance, filled in from your answers. You read it, edit it if you want, and send it yourself.

Before you say no

A suitable alternative offer is not automatically a demotion. Sometimes it is a genuine way to stay in work. Read it against your current terms. Use the 4-week trial if it might be workable. If it is not, set out the grounds in writing and keep a copy.

If you want help putting that request on paper, start with Second Wind’s suitable alternative work letter. Pay once. Nothing renews. For advice on your own situation, Acas is free on 0300 123 1100.