Employer withdrawn job offer out of the blue ?

I___I

Hello everyone, not sure this board is most suited to my post but I've always found mse a good place for advice


I recently went through very long interview process with personal costs of around £100-£1000 that where considered mandatory for the role. I decided to pay for these, after receiving a two conditional offers of employment from said company.

I received two separate job offers in writing about 2 months before my start date and after all my tests/vetting had been passed (with written conformation again for both separate roles). So in the last 4 weeks I've had no contact with them since they confirmed my start date and that I had passed all of my vetting.

Now days before I'm due to start the company has said they can no longer employ me as both roles are now redundant due to a 3rd party dropping out in both cases and it is unlikely they will have anything to offer me within the next 6 months, yet they are still putting out job adverts as recently as yesterday for these roles !?

My initial reaction was to just cut ties and let it go, but I still want to work with them in the future. Saying that, it's cost me a lot of time/money and I've also declined other jobs for this company, so I feel pretty burned. Just what to know if I am legally entitled to anything and how strong my case would be ? Not going to name them, but the company are legitimate and are fairly large and established, so it strikes me as weird that they would willingly break their contract twice, knowing everything is recorded in writing !?

Cheers :beer:

agrinnall

Very doubtful if they have broken any contract as I doubt if one existed. Being offered a job isn't generally the same as actually having a contract to do that job. Even if you had started they could still have sacked you for no reason at any time in the first two years, and you'd only have been due whatever contractual or statutory notice applied at the time, and before you've started that notice is almost certainly nothing. You can ask them for some repayment of expenses you had to incur but if they won't pay I can't see there's anywhere else for you to go - and asking might not be good for your future prospects of working for them.

Undervalued

agrinnall wrote: »

Very doubtful if they have broken any contract as I doubt if one existed. Being offered a job isn't generally the same as actually having a contract to do that job. Even if you had started they could still have sacked you for no reason at any time in the first two years, and you'd only have been due whatever contractual or statutory notice applied at the time, and before you've started that notice is almost certainly nothing. You can ask them for some repayment of expenses you had to incur but if they won't pay I can't see there's anywhere else for you to go - and asking might not be good for your future prospects of working for them.

Yes and no.

If a job has been offered and accepted a contract has been formed.

If a period of notice is specified and the job offer is withdrawn then the OP is entitled to be paid for any days of that notice that extend beyond the start date. So, if for example four weeks notice was specified and the offer is withdrawn two weeks before starting the OP is due two weeks pay.

If no notice was specified then statutory would apply but as that is zero during the first month it is irrelevant.

If the OP has incurred expenses directly as a result of accepting the job offer then there is a argument that these should be reimbursed. However it is not clear what these expenses are so it is hard to comment further.

I___I

Cheers

I do actually have two 'conditional contracts' from them which I signed. The direct giv site says this https://www.gov.uk/job-offers-your-rights , which leads me to believe they are in the wrong ?

I thought they could only revoke the contract on legitimate grounds, for example 'you failed our fraud check', but the company confirmed I passed all of these steps already.

steampowered

What is the notice period in your 'conditional contracts' and what do they say about the employer's ability to withdraw?

I___I

So I got two 'Conditional offer of employment'

The conditions where passing a health check, aptitude test and various background checks (which I passed). There is no reference of notice period on either of them.

cheers

Undervalued

I___I wrote: »

So I got two 'Conditional offer of employment'

The conditions where passing a health check, aptitude test and various background checks (which I passed). There is no reference of notice period on either of them.

cheers

A conditional offer is just as valid as long as you met the specific conditions. However, unless you can show that more than statutory notice was a standard part of their normal terms and conditions then I'm afraid you are going to struggle to get anything .

Undervalued

I___I wrote: »

Cheers

I do actually have two 'conditional contracts' from them which I signed. The direct giv site says this https://www.gov.uk/job-offers-your-rights , which leads me to believe they are in the wrong ?

I thought they could only revoke the contract on legitimate grounds, for example 'you failed our fraud check', but the company confirmed I passed all of these steps already.

Yes but that is generally a moot point. You have no protection from unfair dismissal during the first two years so you could be dismissed for no reason at all on the first day! Unless you have managed to negotiate special contractual terms (which normally only happens at very high levels or in certain "head hunted" situations) then you have little or no redress.

I___I

Cheers.

So basically they are in the wrong and immoral but their is jack I can do about it, so now I'm unemployed and living off smart price beans for the near future

Cheeky_Monkey

So what exactly did you pay up to £1000 for?

asajj

I can understand how frustrating it is. I'd ask at least some reimbursements for the expenses and see what they say.