Verbal Offer - Binding or not?

74jax · 5 June 2020 at 6:26AM

In the verbal agreement what start date was given?
Have you handed your notice in on a verbal offer?
How do you know you agree to all terms if you don't have the full offer in writing?
Surely a verbal offer is you saying yes you'll be happy to accept following sight of the contract. Unless the verbal offer went through everything, bonus structure, sickness, notice period, bad weather conditions, wfh, annual increases, main place of employment, holiday buy/sell, pension, etc etc I can't see how why on earth you'd agree without a written contract?

TELLIT01 · 5 June 2020 at 7:55AM

Legally binding or not, if I was the prospective employer being forced to give somebody a job which actually doesn't exist, I would simply terminate their contract on the day they started. Then that person would not only have no job, but would have no chance of getting a job with the company in the future either.

Far better to contact the prospective employer saying they are disappointed but understand the situation, and ask to be informed if the vacancy does arise again. Acting otherwise, in my opinion, would be shooting themself in the foot.

Ditzy_Mitzy · 5 June 2020 at 9:37AM

Surely, if one takes the job offer as a form of contract of employment, then it would have been frustrated at the point the incumbent employee with the company making the offer decides to stay on? The offer was made on the proviso of there being a job vacancy, however this vacancy no longer exists in fact. Therefore it is impossible for the company to fulfil its part, i.e. providing a job to the party offered one. I doubt that such a situation creates a general duty for the company to give a job, by means of creating one, to the party therefore the only apparent course of action is to retract the offer. Unless of course one wishes to push for the incumbent to be dismissed, which seems silly.

Rudess · 9 June 2020 at 4:21PM

In a strange u-turn the same company came back to me and said the role is mine. I now think it was all part of their hiring process. If the job market was different, I may not taken the offer now, but given that my company won't be extending the furlough beyond July, I'm gonna take it and pray for the best. Thanks everyone!