Is an offer letter sufficient enough to hand in my notice?

Add_dayy

Hi, the title pretty much says it but here's a bit more detail.

I received an offer for a new Job "whoop whoop". However the time period which they wish me to start and the length of my notice period gives me very little wiggle room to hand in my notice (needs to be done in a couple of days).

I've received, signed and returned the offer letter along with the appropriate form of ID. What i want to know is, whether this is sufficient enough for me to hand in my notice at my current place of work or should i wait for the official contract (not sure exactly when it will come, assuming that's when all ID checks and referencing have been done).

cheers Guys!

ohreally

Only if the offer is unconditional.

stator

The real contract will probably arrive 3 months after you start work.

Personally I would always want to see the contract before accepting an offer, companies seem to be putting all sorts of silly terms in employment contracts these days

NineDeuce

It is standard but like with any job that you have to take on you are subject to less protection with the law under any new job

Add_dayy

The offer is conditional on:

Proof of university degree (provided)
Proof of ability to work in UK (passport given)
Reference been satisfactory (given details of current and previous manager)

All of the content it's conditional on have been provided. Do you think I should wait to confirm references are ok?

Torry_Quine

Add_dayy wrote: »

The offer is conditional on:

Proof of university degree (provided)
Proof of ability to work in UK (passport given)
Reference been satisfactory (given details of current and previous manager)

All of the content it's conditional on have been provided. Do you think I should wait to confirm references are ok?

You should never hand in your notice until any job offer is unconditional.

Undervalued

Torry_Quine wrote: »

You should never hand in your notice until any job offer is unconditional.

Yes and no, it depends what your other options are!

Unless you are in a position to negotiate very special contractual terms (normally only happens in a head hunted situation) with a new job you have no protection at all beyond your agreed notice period. So, you can still be dismissed on day one (or even before) regardless of whether your offer was "unconditional" or not. Sadly it happens all too often!

ohreally

Add_dayy wrote: »

Do you think I should wait to confirm references are ok?

Yes.

It may be prudent to ask to see the statement of particulars that you should be provided with (within 2 months).

steampowered

In a perfect world, you would wait for references to be confirmed and to be issued with a formal signed contract.

But in the real world, people often do need to hand in their notice on the basis of an offer letter. There is a risk of the employer withdrawing the offer but it is a risk that many people take.

In reality, before you have one month's service, an employer can sack you at any time without giving notice anyway (subject to any notice periods in your contract).

shortcrust

As steampowered says, they could sack you on your first day so there's never really a 'safe' time to hand in your notice.

General_Grant

Add_dayy wrote: »

The offer is conditional on:

Proof of university degree (provided)
Proof of ability to work in UK (passport given)
Reference been satisfactory (given details of current and previous manager)

All of the content it's conditional on have been provided. Do you think I should wait to confirm references are ok?

You said in first post that you had sent the ID and it sounded as though that was after you had the offer.

Did you actually send the passport or just a photocopy of the photopage? In any event, the employer is supposed to check original documents while the person is present and make a copy of it and date the copy. Have they done that?