Retraction of Job Offer

crawley_girl

My friend has not been enjoying her job for some time and decided that she would be emotionally better off doing something else.

She sat tight in this job whilst looking around and found a part-time job, applied for it and got it.

All paperwork, references, contracts etc were sent out to her. She read, signed and returned and a start date agreed.

She then handed her notice into to job she wasn't enjoying.

She was phoned a few days prior to her start date and told that the job no longer exists. She was phoned by 'the manager' of whom my friend had never met. She didn't catch this person's name as it caught her unawares.

My question is this:

Should she be unable to find work straight away and need to claim JSA will she be able to? The reason I ask is because she handed her notice in to the job she is currently in.

She is actively looking for another job but is there anything she should do to protect herself? Like ask for a letter from the 'non-existant job' to confirm there was a job but isn't now?! Or anything else

PS She has considered trying to renegotiate her end date with existing job but decided that her health is more important.

Any advice?

Many thanks

:heartpuls CG :heartpuls

Annisele

I can't help, but if you don't get any responses here you might be better off reposting on the benefits board - this is more a benefits question than a jobs question.

whitewing

Maybe send zzzLazyDaisy a pm to come and look here. She is a retired Employment Solicitor I bumped into on another thread.

SarEl

Providing that she can prove that there was a job offer then she has not made herself intentionally unemployed. Presumably she has the paperwork? In which case she should have nothing to worry about. It's crap but crap happens.

Thmas_Covenant

Potentially a case for breach of contract for which she could sue for damages - loss of income etc. If she has home insurance she may have legal cover that can pursue this with no cost.
Also, she can withdraw her notice in her current job up until the termination date - bit of a bind but not much they can do about it.
Simples :j

SarEl

Thmas_Covenant wrote: »

Potentially a case for breach of contract for which she could sue for damages - loss of income etc. If she has home insurance she may have legal cover that can pursue this with no cost. No actually she can't. Breach of contract at most covers notice pay and if the contract was breached before she started, then notice pay would be minimal if anything at all (bearing in mind that statutory notice in the first month of employment is nil)
Also, she can withdraw her notice in her current job up until the termination date - bit of a bind but not much they can do about it.No, she can't. She can only withdraw notice if her employer agrees. There is no unilateral right to withdraw notice.
Simples :j

So not at all simples. Check your law before making blanket statements.

caringa

crawley_girl wrote: »

My friend has not been enjoying her job for some time and decided that she would be emotionally better off doing something else.

She sat tight in this job whilst looking around and found a part-time job, applied for it and got it.

All paperwork, references, contracts etc were sent out to her. She read, signed and returned and a start date agreed.

She then handed her notice into to job she wasn't enjoying.

She was phoned a few days prior to her start date and told that the job no longer exists. She was phoned by 'the manager' of whom my friend had never met. She didn't catch this person's name as it caught her unawares.

My question is this:

Should she be unable to find work straight away and need to claim JSA will she be able to? The reason I ask is because she handed her notice in to the job she is currently in.

She is actively looking for another job but is there anything she should do to protect herself? Like ask for a letter from the 'non-existant job' to confirm there was a job but isn't now?! Or anything else

PS She has considered trying to renegotiate her end date with existing job but decided that her health is more important.

Any advice?

Many thanks

:heartpuls CG :heartpuls

I have every sympathy with your friend. My daughter was in the same position - job was stressing her out and after 5 years decided to look for something else. She found a new one, accepted their offer and handed her notice in. On her last day of work, whilst having a farewell lunch, the new employer rang to say they were retracting their offer, four days before she was due to start. She was obviously gutted! She has been to the Job Centre and it looks as if she will get Job Seekers Allowance but the trauma has been a huge setback - especially as she apparently beat over 200 applicants to get the new job.

The reason for retracting the offer was that they didnt like the number of days she had been off sick in her previous job (all unpaid incidentally) - they didnt ask why or take out any any further references.

InsideInsurance

If she has a signed contract then, my understanding would be, that they have to pay her the notice period as stated in that contract.

Benefits arent my area of knowledge but given she will have received PAYE monies from the "new" employer and that was not terminated voluntarily then the fact she resigned from her prior role wouldn't impact her JSA claim.