What happens when you get a work promotion you don’t want?

By Tony Poland, LegalMatters Staff • A workplace promotion is typically seen as a sign of success, often providing more pay, increased authority and the acknowledgment of a job well done.

But what happens if you are promoted up the chain and find the job is not for you? What if you don’t even want a promotion? Can you refuse the offer or ask to return to your former position if you are uncomfortable in your new role? It all depends on the circumstances, ​​says Toronto employment lawyer Ellen Low.

“I get these questions fairly regularly,” says Low, principal of Ellen Low & Co. “Taking a promotion and later regretting it is not uncommon. Sometimes things look better on paper than they are in reality. Sometimes people get excited about the prospect of a new job title but when they get into it, they realize it is not what they expected or wanted.

“On the flip side, there are instances where people are offered promotions but they have no interest in the new position,” she tells LegalMattersCanada.ca. “Some people are under the impression that if they are being offered a promotion then they really have to take it. Legally speaking, they don’t.”

Many people quit after receiving a promotion

Low points to a Forbes report that states 29 per cent of people who received their first promotion left the company within a month. The article cites an ADP Research Institute survey that found a promotion may embolden a person to seek out other higher-paying jobs.

There are also circumstances where people may be euphoric after receiving a promotion but dissatisfaction sets in and they start questioning whether they want to continue with the new job, according to Forbes.

The report states that although the promotion may seem like a good opportunity, “the promoted person may suffer from imposter syndrome, be uncomfortable with the extra scrutiny, feel awkward rising above their peers and sense a twinge of jealousy from colleagues who thought they should have gotten the promotion.” 

Low says some workers might be overwhelmed with the new position, there could be a fear of failing or they might come to the realization that the extra remuneration, if any, is not worth the added burden.

Legally speaking, a promotion is an offer that, if accepted, will change “the implied and express terms of the existing employment agreement,” she says.

When offered advancement, a person has three options, says Low.

“You can accept that promotion exactly as is. Presumably, this comes with a new job description, a new contract and, presumably, more pay and perhaps increased benefits,” she says. “The second option is that you could investigate the promotion, ask questions about it. Then you may need to do some negotiating before coming to terms that both sides can accept.

‘The third option is you can just say no’

“The third option is you can just say no,” Low adds. “You cannot be forced  to accept the promotion, especially if you have done some inquiry and determined that it is really not a good fit or the job description is too onerous with not enough remuneration involved.”

However, just because you are within your rights to reject a promotion, it doesn’t mean you will have the opportunity to carry on with the company, she says.

“You can turn down the promotion and think it is not a big deal because you will still have your old job. But it can get a bit tricky,” Low explains. “The employer has the legal right to organize its workforce however it sees fit.”

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For example, a person might be an assistant production manager when the production manager resigns, she says. The company could decide to move the assistant into the managerial role and eliminate the assistant manager position, Low says.

If the assistant declines the promotion, it becomes a question of whether the company has the capacity to keep the employee while bringing in someone to fill the manager’s position, she says.

Low says it would be within the company’s rights to tell the assistant that their job will no longer exist at a certain date and give them notice of termination if they don’t accept the promotion.

Employer can make decisions based on operational needs

“Keep in mind that, for the most part, deciding to reject a promotion would not be cause for termination,” she says. “But an employer may decide from a business case that they really need somebody in that manager role and perhaps they don’t need anybody in your existing role.”

A worker who accepts a promotion and later decides the position is not a good fit could also find themselves in for a rude awakening if they expect to reclaim their old job, Low says.

“If it was intended to be a permanent move there are no implied rights to return if you are in a non-unionized position,” she says. “That is because the parties have otherwise agreed to change the employment contract.

“Practically speaking if someone is very unhappy in those circumstances, they should have a conversation with the manager and possibly human resources to explore the chance of amending that employment relationship,” Low adds. “But strictly from a contractual perspective, this is an arrangement that you assume both parties went into with eyes wide open. They signed on the dotted line and that is now the job.”

‘Set people up for failure’

She says failing to carefully consider what any job offer entails “can set people up for failure.”

“With a promotion people are flattered, they are excited and they may say yes without really knowing what they have said yes to because the two parties have not talked about the actual parameters of the new job,” says Low. “Some may take on a new role and quickly feel taken advantage of or dissatisfied.

“Others may feel as though they really should have asked some further questions and sought more clarification about the new duties and responsibilities and also the compensation offered in exchange for that promotion,” she adds. “By then, of course, it may be too late.”

Seeking legal advice may prove vital in such circumstances, Low says.

“It is always wise to know what you are getting into and there may be questions you may not think to ask,” she says. “Especially around issues such as overtime, the expectation of hours, remote or hybrid work and the actual duties and specifications of the job.

“That is not to say that you should look a gift horse in the mouth,” Low adds. “But it means that you should carefully examine whether this is actually the promotion you want. Don’t be afraid to have a frank conversation with your employer so you have a better idea about what happens next.”