Refusing suitable alternative employment

Refusing suitable alternative employment

An employee who unreasonably refuses an offer of suitable alternative employment with their employer or an associated employer will lose their right to a statutory redundancy payment (s.141 ERA).

The offer of alternative employment must be made before the old job ends and the new job must start immediately or within four weeks of the end of the previous employment.  If the employee accepts the offer, he/she is not entitled to a statutory redundancy payment (s.138(1) ERA).  He/she could, however, still bring a claim for unfair dismissal from the original job.

Where the employee is offered a new job which differs from the old one, he/she can try out the new job for a trial period of up to four weeks (s.138 ERA).  If the employee works beyond the four week trial period, he/she loses his/her right to the statutory redundancy payment.

The employer has the burden of showing both:

• that the alternative employment offered was ‘suitable’; and

• that the employee's refusal was unreasonable.