Help,Job offer withdrawn on day due to start!

lush_walrus

Chrysalis wrote:

I cant see how verbal agreements can be binding you would need something on paper, otherwise I could goto a solicitor saying a bank offered me 100k a year position then changed their mind.

Verbal agreements in the absence of a written contract are considered to be legally binding. Where there is an offer and an acceptance a contract exists.


An easy way to explain it is a shop and a customer. The shop provide an offer, ie displaying goods on the shelf with a price attached. The customer in buying the goods accepts the offer. A contract is then entered upon this agreement and the goods are sold by the shop and brought by the customer. That is why if a shop displays a price that is different to the 'actual' price the customer has the right to buy the item at the displayed price.

Your example for why a contract can not exist is very different to the experience of the OP. The OP can prove that the offer existed through a variety of ways, the fact that references have been sought, the agency can verify that an offer existed, the fact that their notice was handed in etc etc.

If the situation went to the employment tribunal (which is an option that should agreement not be reached) then all parties would be expected to tell the truth under oath.

In law, this is exactly what is relied upon. Most situations in life are verbal, most witnesses to incidents have to report on something that is not written, ie something they have seen or heard.

Verbal is just as valid form of contract as written.

OP as others have said speak to DTI, ACAS and citizens advice bureau. Also speak to the law society, they can direct you to an appropriate employment lawyer to help advise you. Most will offer a free initial consultation, so its worth speaking to one of them for advice.

merikiito

Hi all, thanks for all your replies. Nice to see so many people car about an unknown stranger. Just thought I would give you an update. ACAS were unable to help because I had not worked for the new company. Because my offer was turned down due to references they suggest I speak to the Data Protection Act people whom told me I could get copy of the references from the company. So far the company has refused to give me copies quoting terms of confidentiality between them and my previous employers. They have been given 7 days in which to supply these otherwise the Data Protection Act people will take it further as they have no case to withhold the references. Fortunatly I am still on speaking terms with two out of three employers whom are still considered friends, they have given me copies of what they sent and all is fine. It seems that if there is a problem then it was for my last employer whom refuses to give me a copy. According to the Data Protection people I can ony force the new company to give me a copy. If the reference from my last employer is faudulant in any way I will be seeking further action under my Human Rights/EEC. There is an act for stopping someone to be able to legally work within the EEC, and by giving a bad reference they would be doing this.

The minimum I can expect from anyone is a months pay as that was my notice period. I cannot get back with the last company as the post I had no longer exists and I would not work for them again anyway as they always owed me expenses money, in one case £1500 for nearly seven weeks and I do not have the funds to do this.

Thanks again and any other further comments are welcome. It may be a while before this is resolved but hopefully I will have a new job by then!

Savvy_Sue

I think you need to think carefully here: you say you gave notice and were then given a month's pay in lieu. Does your former company do that for everyone, or did they have a reason for not wanting you in the building longer than absolutely necessary? If they've said things in your reference that aren't true then you can take things further, but they may have just not been sufficiently enthusiastic about you, and that's rung alarm bells for the new company.

But they can say uncomplimentary things about you in a reference, as long as they're prepared to back them up with evidence. For example, they can say you were often late for work, as long as they've got timesheets or records of disciplinary action against you for lateness.

I'd just think whether there is anything on your record that's nobbled you ...

hattie_pea

Astaroth is right - verbal contracts are legally binding under UK employment law.

The thing that is so hard about job seeking when agencies are involved is that the recruitment consultants have no loyalty to the prospective candidate, only to the seeker company as they are the ones who are going to be lining their pockets! Grrrrrr!

Katie_Bell

hattie_pea wrote:

Astaroth is right - verbal contracts are legally binding under UK employment law.

The thing that is so hard about job seeking when agencies are involved is that the recruitment consultants have no loyalty to the prospective candidate, only to the seeker company as they are the ones who are going to be lining their pockets! Grrrrrr!

I would dispute that. I am a recruitment consultant and I have equal, if not more loyalty to my candidates than to my clients. Any consultant who can't see the value of their candidates is a poor consultant, but please don't tar us with the same brush. I am sorry if you have had a bad experience, but we are all different.

To the op, I hope you get to the bottom of this. If you want any advise, do not hesitate to PM me. Good luck!

ts_aly2000

Katie_Bell wrote:

I would dispute that. I am a recruitment consultant and I have equal, if not more loyalty to my candidates than to my clients. Any consultant who can't see the value of their candidates is a poor consultant, but please don't tar us with the same brush. I am sorry if you have had a bad experience, but we are all different.

You better give me your number then.

Seriously!! You come across as ok so drop me a PM in the morning.

Thanks, Aly

ps. not joking, was initially.

Quincy_3

This has happened to me and it turned out there was never any job in the first place so the agency were 100% in the wrong, Pamela and Neave it was.

ts_aly2000

Quincy wrote:

This has happened to me and it turned out there was never any job in the first place so the agency were 100% in the wrong, Pamela and Neave it was.

Yeeep, been there, seen it, have the badge.

This one was called Springfield Recruitment in Cambridge, who eventually went bust, and much to a few people's disgust readily found work for a certain ex-colleague who had a particular liking of pornography, was sacked for it, and they still found him a job. In with the boys eh!? or something like that.

I still stand to be impressed by a recruitment agency, short of having a view of pratts in smart suits eating Sainsbury's Taste-the-Difference sandwiches and getting lashed at 5.30pm on a Friday afternoon, drink driving home in the early hours, and finally having the 3 bedroom semi repo'd on Monday along with the Audi TT.

Katie_Bell

Hi Aly. Thanks for your lovely comment. I have sent you a PM.

ts_aly2000

Katie_Bell wrote:

Hi Aly. Thanks for your lovely comment. I have sent you a PM.

Coolies Will run over in a few mins