was in a pool, now offered alternative but I don't want to stay

clare136l

Hello all,
Here is my problem.
About 2 months ago I was given notice that I would be part of a redundancy pool of 5, due to restructure of the company. The 5 were made up of "commercial assistants, but included myself "marketing executive", 2 commercial assistants, an admin assistant and the receptionist. The 5 of us were put the a points system and I came out on top which was pretty obvious as I have taken on all of the other roles within the pool at some time or another whereas the others have only ever held the position the have now. I started off 6 years ago as receptionist/admin assistant then became commercial assistant before moving into my marketing role.
Anyway as a result have been told I will not face redundancy but there would be an alternative position for me within the restructured company. The other 4 have all been made redundant.
Here is my problem.
The role I have been offered will be in a team of procurement and sales managers and my perception is that I will be picking up 80% of the admin functions that the previous 4 people covered off. They team are made up of all managers and I believe by accepting this role, I will be seen as assisting all of them with no real status. Before the other 4 were made redundant, I was working towards gaining some management experience by setting them tasks and jobs and felt this was adding to my career prospects, however they have gone now so I see no future prospects for myself as I believe I will be doing work which I was doing 3 or 4 years ago. In total 12 out of 14 people up for redundancy have gone there is only me and 1 other lady left and she is currently on her 4 week trial of alternative position. The other ladies work is not in our office so I am the only 1 in the whole team here to have gone through the process which in itself makes me feel extremly alienated.
The redundancy process was not handled particularly well and has somewhat shook my confidence and passion for my job and really I would rather go it alone and risk having to find a new job. I am also still wary on the financial status of our business as we are only a small company and there have been a lot of phonecalls regarding money owed, late payments to suppliers and customers etc so feel that the company may be going under.
Does anyone think I have grounds for refusing this alternative employment? The company put me in this position and I would not like to think that my last 6 years of work were worth nothing and I would just need to give them normal resignation?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks
confused

Jennifer_Yellow_Hat

I can see why you're a bit miffed as it probably feels like a step back. If you refused this position what would happen? Would you be given something else? Or would you be made redundant? I think personally I would accept the position for now but seek a job elsewhere.

diable

Unless the redundancy package is massive or you can walk into a job straight away then I would stay as it is always easier to find a new job when you are in a job. Just tough it out.

clare136l

If I could get redundancy then I would like to take the cash and go back to college to study. But only if I can get redundancy. If I can say that the job is unsuitable then i should be offered redundancy. My question is do you think my reaosns justify unsuitability?

diable

I think if you have been taken out of the redundancy pool and turn this job down then you may have to resign the position. Not 100% sure on this but hopefully someone with more knowledge on employment law will be along soon.

getmore4less

If you raise the issue of suitibility then that will allert them that you are potentialy not happy with the role.

If they are smart this will tell them a couple of things.

The main one being that if they force you to take the job then you may leave anyway.

With this in mind they may look to give the position to someone else.

I would ask the others at risk if anyone is interested and get them to say they would like to be considered for the job, this way the employer nows they have someone else to give the job to.

Backwards step and no prospects are good reasons to consider the alternative not suitable but if the employer does not agree that would lead to conflict.

If you already accepted the position and have worked in it then that may rule out redundancy.

Often a good idea to take the 4 week trial, both sides can then see if it will work, you get a chance to help make the desision if working for too many people is not something you want this can be made to show(IYSWIM).

clare136l

I am due to start the trial on Monday for 4 weeks but have spent the last 2 weeks coming up with all the jobs which will need to be covered off due to the others leaving

kiddy_guy

I'm pretty sure that if your original role is redundant, you can turn down the other role offered and take redundancy.

BlueIsTheColour

Ultimately this may end up being decided by a tribunal, as if you did refuse it and the employer believed it was suitable and therefore you had resigned they then may not pay the redundancy which may, and I stress may, mean that you are looking at redundancy pay claim, perhaps coupled with unfair dismissal depending how its all been handled?

CFC

clare136l wrote: »

If I could get redundancy then I would like to take the cash and go back to college to study. But only if I can get redundancy. If I can say that the job is unsuitable then i should be offered redundancy. My question is do you think my reaosns justify unsuitability?

Are you aware of the amount of redundancy you would get? I'd be surprised if you could afford to go back to college on that, unless they offer an enhanced package via your contract.