14 February 2012

What counts as suitable alternative employment in a redundancy procedure?

What counts as suitable alternative employment in a redundancy procedure?

Readman v Devon Primary Care Trust is a reminder that, in a redundancy situation, the reasonableness of refusing a suitable alternative job should be judged from the perspective of the particular employee, rather than objectively.

The case concerned a senior nurse, made redundant following a reorganisation of the PCT in which she had worked for many years as a community nurse, with her final post being as a Matron. She was offered three alternative jobs - two at a lower grade, and one as a Matron, but working in a hospital rather than in the community. She turned it down, because she did not wish to return to working in a hospital setting. The employer refused to pay her a redundancy payment, on the basis that she had unreasonably turned down a suitable alternative job.

The EAT found for the employee. Only the job as matron could amount to "suitable alternative employment", suitability being judged on a largely objective basis, albeit taking account of the skills and competencies of the individual concerned. The other two jobs were clearly too junior to the status she had reached to amount to suitable alternatives. However, what of Mrs Readman's refusal of that suitable alternative?

The "desire not to work in a hospital setting ... did provide her with a sound and justifiable reason for turning the offer down". In other words, when it comes to judging the reasonableness of a refusal, the test is a subjective one. It was specifically Mrs Readman's point of view, in all her particular circumstances (and not that of some hypothetical "reasonable employee") which counted on this issue.