Can you be penalized for turning down a promotion?

According to a recent survey by emotional insight platform Hint App, 59% of Americans would reject a promotion that required them to be available after hours, and 62% would decline moving into management at the expense of work-life boundaries, even if it came with better pay.

That’s especially true among younger Americans, according to a 2024 survey by recruitment firm Robert Walters. In that study, 57% of Gen Z professionals surveyed had no interest in middle management, with 67% saying the promotion seemed more stressful than rewarding.

However, saying no to an advancement offer could have some negative career repercussions, especially if your manager stuck their neck out on your behalf.

“Managers can take on a bit of a campaign for people without the individual knowing, and it may require some careful communication to avoid damaging that relationship, because it could be embarrassing for the manager if they decline,” explains Robert Walters North America CEO Chris Eldridge.

He says that without proper communication, managers could take that decision personally, noting that they could easily assume “You’re turning down the promotion. Therefore, you’re turning down me, and you don’t want anything to do with this company anymore. You can see how it can blow up very quickly.”

Communication is key

Turning down a promotion without stirring any negative feelings, according to Eldridge, requires open and honest conversations between managers and their team members.

“Clear communication of why you’ll be declining the opportunity can lead to positive outcomes,” he says. “It helps encourage managers and leaders to reconsider whether their expectations are reasonable or aligned to where they need to be, because there’s likely a perception that the promotion comes with longer hours.”

Eldridge encourages workers who have been offered a promotion they’re not sure they want to request some more information and some time to consider their options. He explains that promotions are typically offered to top performers, and that those who have been singled out likely have a certain degree of leverage.

Opening up a dialogue about the decision could also help counter some misconceptions about what the role might entail.

“I’ve seen people turn down promotions on the assumption of what it will mean,” Eldridge says. “In reality, if they’d taken the opportunity to discuss it, they’d be amazed by what people are willing to review or change to support that person and to help create a healthy working structure for them.”

Is turning down a promotion a red flag?

Turning down a promotion without taking a career hit can be challenging, but even getting to that uncomfortable conversation could suggest deeper issues.

In an ideal situation, workers aren’t offered promotions they don’t want, because their manager is already aware of their career goals and aspirations, suggests Matt Berndt, the head career strategist for Indeed’s Job Search Academy.

“You want your employer to have an understanding of where you want to go in your career, and it ought to be an ongoing conversation at every performance review,” he says. “That’s your opportunity to share the accomplishments that you want your boss to be aware of, and to voice the kind of training and development that you want, and the direction you want your career to take.”

Berndt contends that it’s the employee’s responsibility to figure out the direction they’d like their career to take, and the manager’s responsibility to understand those career preferences before putting someone forward for advancement.

He also acknowledges that both are easier said than done.

“We all have so many things going on, and managing our own career is not something that’s part of our job description. And it’s not something that we are typically taught in school,” he says. “We put our heads down, we do our work, our managers are doing their work, they’re giving as much attention to their team members as they can. So more often than not [the miscommunication is] not happening intentionally.”

Making the time for such conversations, Berndt says, helps both parties align on the individual’s long-term goals, and ensures nobody is left explaining why they don’t want an opportunity after it’s been offered.

“Without all that backstory, you turn down that promotion and now you appear ungrateful because your boss invested in you, and you can see where that leads,” he says. “How you turn it down can be career advancing, career maintaining, or career limiting.”

What can happen if you turn down a promotion

Managers who don’t understand why their report turned down a promotion may shy away from offering them opportunities in the future, or worse.

While there are jurisdictions and employee contract terms that allow managers to fire staff for any reason at will, Berndt says that outcome is unlikely.

The more plausible scenario that could turn a declined promotion into a termination occurs when a company is reorganizing, or moving locations, or gets acquired, and the new role becomes the only one that’s available to them.

“It’s a very realistic scenario,” Berndt says. “Someone could say, ‘We really appreciate you. We want to keep you around, but we’re reorganizing your team. We need you to lead this team, and if you don’t want this job, there really isn’t a place for you here.’”

What happens to organizations that promote people to roles they don’t want

Declined promotions aren’t just a delicate topic for employees. Employers also stand to lose when staff feel negatively toward leadership opportunities, or feel pressured into taking on roles they’re not prepared for.

“Maybe the most substantial deteriorating factor for organizations is putting people into managerial positions because of tenure and success as an individual contributor,” says Jim Harter, Gallup’s chief scientist for workplace management and well-being. “You can see why that would happen. But it’s been one of the most systemic problems affecting organizational culture and the leadership’s ability to get things done long term, because people aren’t in the right role.”

Harter argues that organizations have more to lose from failing to offer workers the opportunity to continue advancing without taking on managerial responsibilities, often referred to as “dual track promotion.”

According to a recent Gallup study, organizations fail to choose the candidate with the necessary skills for leadership 82% of the time, with most selected because of their performance as an individual contributor rather than their leadership potential.

“The norm has been for companies to promote based on success as an individual contributor and tenure,” Harter says. “Those seem equitable on the surface, but in reality, not everybody fits the role. So you’re pushing people into roles that they’re not naturally good at.”

Putting the wrong person into leadership can cost organizations in multiple ways: Not only does it make it harder for their team to reach its full potential, but the former rockstar employee turned manager is no longer able to do their best work.

“One of the most important things in building a successful culture is figuring out who should be the managers,” Harter says. “They’re going to dictate the culture. If they’re not in a role that fits them, they’ll get frustrated and leave.”