Redundancy and suitable alternative roles, feel trapped into applying

[H2023]

Does anyone here have any experience/knowledge of this situation. Have been given notice that my role is at risk of redundancy. They are merging two similar roles to create a new one as part of a restructure, have been invited to apply for the role and my manager has advised it’s mine if I want it (there appear to me more roles than people affected.) I had concerns over increased travel but these have been quashed with them advising that this won’t be anymore that what it is now. We’ve just been given a “draft” job description and one of the essential criteria in the person spec is strong knowledge of the systems we will be promoting/selling/pushing/advising clients on. There are a range of systems and I only have knowledge on one of them. I know there will be opportunities for training but it takes a long time to develop the knowledge to become expert enough to be able to advise customers about it. Anyway waffling now but would this be grounds to turn down the suitable alternative employment and get redundancy instead? In my current role by customers were somewhat matched to my knowledge and we will be given a new set of customers on top of a major one I already have. I feel like I’m going to be stuck in a role that I won’t be able to succeed in and will be letting customers down on if I don’t have the knowledge required. I know they will say support is available but it’s such a big company and seems so disjointed I just can’t see the light at the end with it despite trying to remain positive.

"Invited to apply" - what if you dont?

For a role to be classed as suitable alternative employment there should be an 80/20 split, ie. 20% new/different to the current role being undertaken and 80% unchanged, a 70/30 model can also be used. Do you think the new role falls within this? If you choose not to apply and your employer believes the alternative role is an 80/20% ( or 70/30) and you do not apply or are offered the role and decline, you could possibly be deemed to have lost your right to a redundancy payment.

Most job applicants do not meet all the so-called "essential" requirements of the job description. This is normal. If you don't apply they will be giving the role to someone even less knowledgeable than you. If you don't apply might they be able to get out of paying you redundancy? Like if they have made every effort to redeploy you to a new role and you have turned it down then could that be construed as you being voluntarily unemployed rather than redundant?

Be confident and apply. You will learn the new stuff quickly enough.

Unless you are very confident that you'd get another job quickly elsewhere, or looking to stop working, it'd seem sensible to apply for the role they are offering you. If you dont like it after a few months, apply for other jobs whilst you are being paid and gaining new skills.

The key test for a suitable alternative role is whether it's reasonable to expect you to accept it — and that takes into account things like the skills required, not just the job title or pay. If the new role requires strong knowledge of multiple systems and you only have expertise in one, that's a legitimate factor when deciding whether it's truly suitable.
If you turn down a role that's later deemed suitable by a tribunal, you can lose your redundancy pay. But if it's genuinely not suitable given your skills and experience, you have the right to refuse and still claim redundancy.
Worth getting clear on the exact criteria and what "support" actually means before you decide.
ukworkrights.co.uk has a free redundancy rights checker that covers exactly this — no login needed.