Is this 'promotion' full of red flags?

[Glitchbanana]

Posting on behalf of a friend who isn't on Mumsnet but NC as sharing with her. Posting here for maximum traffic.

My friend works for a legal firm and has received an email offering her a promotion. The promotion is stated as effective from her return from upcoming planned sick leave, but the email doesn’t say what happens if she doesn't want the promotion or whether she can decline it.

They’re offering six weeks full sick pay as a “one‑off goodwill gesture” for her upcoming planned absence. They also say her pay rate will only increase if she increases her contracted hours, claiming that a pay rise would only be possible if her hours change because that would trigger a contract variation. But the promotion itself, plus the new annual leave entitlement and bonus scheme, would also trigger a contract change — so this reasoning doesn’t really stack up.

If she stays on her current hours, she gets the promotion title and responsibility but no pay rise. If she increases hours, she'll get a bonus, but will need to repay it in full if she later reduces her hours.

She feels pressured because the email is vague about whether the promotion is optional, what happens if she declines it, and whether her current role is still secure. She’s also concerned about the bonus clawback, the sick‑pay wording, and the questionable explanation about contract changes.

Questions:

Can an employer offer a promotion without explaining what happens if you decline it?

Is a promotion optional, or can they pressure you into accepting it?

Is it normal for a promotion to come with no pay rise unless you increase hours?

Is their explanation (“we can only increase pay if hours change because that triggers a contract variation”) actually valid?

Could this be indirect discrimination if childcare prevents her increasing hours?

Is a bonus clawback enforceable if she later reduces hours?

Is it appropriate for a legal firm to use discretionary sick pay as leverage?

Should she ask for written confirmation that declining the promotion won’t affect her current job?

Would ACAS or a solicitor advise pushing back on the lack of clarity?

She's back in on Monday, any advice welcome to prepare for then. Thanks.

Only a legal person could answer this.

True, can C&P to legal but also might get some legals and more traffic on AIBU too ☺️

Can an employer offer a promotion without explaining what happens if you decline it?

I have never known a promotion offer that answered this question in advance. Employers assume you will accept.

How long has she worked there?

I don't think anyone can answer this without more detail. The reasoning does sound like bollocks. If the extra duties required by the promotion require a full time staff member rather than part time then they can say that if she wants to take it she needs to do the hours.
is it actually 'clawback' or are they saying she would return to her lower rate of pay if she changed her mind? They can't ask for money back for the period she has worked the extra duties but they can return her to her original rate & duties if she returns to them.
The new contract has no bearing on her continued employment status so she wouldn't need to worry about that.

She should contact ACAS to discuss. Tbh.

Is she an actual lawyer? Because their chargeable hours/ job titles etc are different from normal people so the advice will differ

So is this email out of the blue? It would be strange if she were being offered a promotion without some sort of review and prior discussion beforehand. I think she needs to talk to her line manager and/or HR to ask questions about the points you raise. At the moment, she doesn't appear to be fully informed.

They’re offering six weeks full sick pay as a “one‑off goodwill gesture” for her upcoming planned absence.
This is the other thing that concerns me. Her sick-pay rights should be clearly stated in her current contract. If the promotion starts after her planned sick leave, the new contract is irrelevant to any sick pay. Do you think they're concerned that she has a chronic/long-term illness that will require a lot of time off in future, and are trying to limit their liability?

Yes, there is plenty there that needs independent scrutiny before making any decisions.
The only proper advice to her is for her to get a proper independent opinion, in real life, from someone qualified to give it. There seems to be plenty at stake and significant consequences if getting it wrong, so she needs to be completely informed.

I’m sooooo bored of OPs written by AI.

Coming up for 2 years

That's exactly what we said.. their reasoning is surely bullshit and it really feels like they're putting pressure on her. Especially with her upcoming planned absence (due to a long-planned op). They've had a team member leave and they're trying to fill the gap with existing staff, but her home life means she a) can't (childcare) and b) doesn't need (financially) to work extra hours. She's a bit backed into a corner?

No, not a lawyer. Works for a legal firm though.

Not out of the blue. A colleague has handed his notice in and they're trying to plug the gap within the existing team. They had conversations but she asked for everything to be put in writing, and it just feels like she's being manipulated a bit to accept extra hours that she doesn't either want or need.

Re. the sick pay, originally she wasn't offered it on full pay for the whole period, but they've increased it to full time as part of this promotion offer. I don't actually know if it's conditional to her accepting the promotion but it feels like they're really trying to strong-arm her?

Soz. I'm genuinely not an AI account but I admit we put the email and the situation through AI to summarise as it saved us a job while we were catching up about this and the rest of life over a bottle of wine! I'm allowed to be concerned for the situation she's been put in while also wanting to save a bit of time on a Saturday night by using tools available to me 😂

So your OP was written by AI?

It's a real life scenario, but yes, I used AI to help summarise the email - it was very long and convoluted. I also wrote some of the OP myself. Is this a problem, and does this have a bearing on the advice we were seeking?! Genuine question....

Hah. Don't even know how that GIF got added 😂

Can she ask to see the contract so she can go through it in detail?

its quite normal in my experience to offer a promotion on condition of increasing hours eg from 3 to 5 days a week, because the promotion requires a full time position. It is not discrimination to offer a full time position. If she prefers to stay part time she should just decline

I think I might be concerned that being subject to a completely new contract when she's been there "coming up to two years" might be a way of sending her back to square one with regard to employment rights. But IANAL or anything close.