Handing in notice before reference checks?

concerneduk2020

Hi, looking for some advice on a job offer situation.

I’ve been offered a job which is better pay than my current role but when I received the contract I found out it was only offering statutory benefits. It’s a mid-senior level professional job and this was quite unexpected for my industry. I’m still waiting for answers from the employer about some of the benefits to clarify. There were also some contractual clauses which I asked them to amend, which they have done. However because of this it’s now been two weeks since the original verbal offer and one week since the offer letter. They’ve sent me an updated contract this morning with a start date of one month from today (my notice period). 

The offer is conditional on references and I’ve explained twice that I can’t hand in my notice or agree to the start date until it’s unconditional. I’m slightly annoyed as I offered to provide references two weeks ago but the agency said they didn’t need them. They company replied to my concerns that they’ve never rescinded a job offer due to references and it’s their policy to check references only an offer is accepted, but I’m still uncomfortable with this as I have a good job at the moment and don’t want to risk it.

So my questions are :

1. should I insist on an unconditional offer before committing to a start date and handing in my notice?

2. Should I wait until I have answers to all my questions on the benefits before signing the contract? They are based in the US so I don’t expect an answer until this afternoon but as they want me to hand in my notice today that is difficult 
3. Am I being unrealistic that a job at this level should have better benefits? I was told throughout the process that I would have a call with HR to discuss benefits but that never happened. I expected for a US company that they wouldn’t be great, but they advertise paid sick leave on their website so it was a bit of a shock when it came to receiving the contract.

the job is more money but the benefits are much lower than my current job.

Undervalued

1. The general safe advice would always be yes. However, even an "unconditional" offer can be withdrawn and your only entitlement would be payment for whatever (if any) contractual notice the new job offers.

2. Signing a "contract" is less relevant than most people seem to believe. Offer and acceptance forms a contract, as does starting work and getting paid. Obviously if all the terms are set out in one document it is much easier to prove what was agreed but a contract still exists either way.

3. That is entirely a matter of negotiation. Keep in mind that virtually all company sick pay schemes these days are "discretionary" so there is no guarantee you will actually get full pay. Whilst it can be a hard and fast contractual entitlement, such schemes are few and far between these days. Unless it is it all comes down to trust.

concerneduk2020

Thanks. At the moment I haven’t accepted the offer because I’ve been waiting for clarification on a number of points. They did confirm the only sick pay is statutory and there is no other company sick pay available. 

TELLIT01

Looks like a Catch22 situation,  the potential employer won't request references from the current employer until a job offer has been accepted but the OP won't accept the job until it is unconditional i.e. after references have been taken up.  Most likely result of this impasse is the potential employer taking somebody else on.

Marcon

concerneduk2020 said:

Hi, looking for some advice on a job offer situation.

I’ve been offered a job which is better pay than my current role but when I received the contract I found out it was only offering statutory benefits. It’s a mid-senior level professional job and this was quite unexpected for my industry. I’m still waiting for answers from the employer about some of the benefits to clarify. There were also some contractual clauses which I asked them to amend, which they have done. However because of this it’s now been two weeks since the original verbal offer and one week since the offer letter. They’ve sent me an updated contract this morning with a start date of one month from today (my notice period). 

The offer is conditional on references and I’ve explained twice that I can’t hand in my notice or agree to the start date until it’s unconditional. I’m slightly annoyed as I offered to provide references two weeks ago but the agency said they didn’t need them. They company replied to my concerns that they’ve never rescinded a job offer due to references and it’s their policy to check references only an offer is accepted, but I’m still uncomfortable with this as I have a good job at the moment and don’t want to risk it.

So my questions are :

1. should I insist on an unconditional offer before committing to a start date and handing in my notice?

2. Should I wait until I have answers to all my questions on the benefits before signing the contract? They are based in the US so I don’t expect an answer until this afternoon but as they want me to hand in my notice today that is difficult 
3. Am I being unrealistic that a job at this level should have better benefits? I was told throughout the process that I would have a call with HR to discuss benefits but that never happened. I expected for a US company that they wouldn’t be great, but they advertise paid sick leave on their website so it was a bit of a shock when it came to receiving the contract.

the job is more money but the benefits are much lower than my current job.

1. Always a good idea, but as your potential new employer doesn't see it that way, it may not be a realistic option
2. If you are of any real importance to them (and potential employees are at their 'most important' just before they sign the contract/resign from their current post!), why aren't they dealing with your questions more quickly?
3. No idea what level your job is at or which industry you are in. If you aren't happy with the overall package, the fact you are being offered a higher salary isn't a good enough reason to take the job.

I'd think again about this job offer and whether you are prepared to meekly accept all the demands being made before you've even started. Doesn't sound much of a deal from your perspective.

Sandtree

1. No employer is going to make an unconditional offer until pre-employment screening has been completed. This takes time and effort so they wont do this with someone whos not yet decided if they will accept the offer. Why are you concerned that the screening could result in something adverse showing up?

2. If they will influence if you accept the contract or not then clearly you need to clarify them first... if they are just minor points of clarity then no need holding things up.

3. If its a USA company as you say then you may forgive them a little more for listing things that are exceptional in the US as a benefit. Most companies over there dont make any sick payments, instead you get 10-15 paid days off a year that you can use for holiday or to cover sickness. The idea therefore of 22 days holiday plus SSP is a big benefit to someone with little exposure to UK employment practices.

I've worked for US companies before, benefits tend to be poor but base salary tends to be high. Would you rather a free dental plan or an extra £750 a year?

concerneduk2020

Sandtree said:

1. No employer is going to make an unconditional offer until pre-employment screening has been completed. This takes time and effort so they wont do this with someone whos not yet decided if they will accept the offer. Why are you concerned that the screening could result in something adverse showing up?

2. If they will influence if you accept the contract or not then clearly you need to clarify them first... if they are just minor points of clarity then no need holding things up.

3. If its a USA company as you say then you may forgive them a little more for listing things that are exceptional in the US as a benefit. Most companies over there dont make any sick payments, instead you get 10-15 paid days off a year that you can use for holiday or to cover sickness. The idea therefore of 22 days holiday plus SSP is a big benefit to someone with little exposure to UK employment practices.

I've worked for US companies before, benefits tend to be poor but base salary tends to be high. Would you rather a free dental plan or an extra £750 a year?

Thanks Sandtree, the problem with the offer is they’ve asked me to commit to a start date which would require me to immediately hand in my notice before reference checks. Maybe I’m phrasing it wrong when I speak to them, as I’d be prepared to accept the offer and then agree a start date and hand in my notice once references checks are complete.

it’s definitely the former, I’m trying to find out if they offer optional salary sacrifice benefits such as purchasing additional leave which would offset some of the less than stellar basic benefits. Because it’s a US company with a small UK office the HR department don’t seem to have thought about UK benefits and like you say view SSP as enough without realising that SSP is not a lot of money. My other question is about redundancy pay and whether they offer it, I suspect not but it does leave me unprotected if they decide in a few years time that having a UK office isn’t worth it.

Sandtree

What is the benefit of sacrificing salary to buy additional leave? US employees get a small amount of paid leave but taking unpaid leave is perfectly normal for them. Its likely they are also comfortable with unpaid leave for you too.. the net position is the same for you and in a very busy year where you dont get time to take off as much as you hoped you dont run into the "use it or lose it" type issues.

If the contract us mute on redundancy then it too will be the statutory amount. A couple of companies I've worked with recently do make some extra-contractual payments under redundancy but as theyre not in the contract there is no obligation for payment. 

As a line manager, receiving a future employee reference questionnaire prior to an employee resigning is exceptionally rare (and to be honest, a little odd when it happens). If you've been in your job for less than 2 years you may find the notice thing stops being your choice when they get the form.  I am only assuming you have a dark past which you're concerned about hence wanting to check the references are ok before resigning... as an employer this would be a bit of a red flag and I may rethink which candidate I preferred.

SandyShores

My DH recently gave in his notice before the unconditional offer came through, luckily it worked out and all the checks came back in time for his start date.  Someone else in his company wasn't so lucky and was unpaid for a few weeks between jobs.  

DH's attitude to risk is different to mine, as personally, I wouldn't ever do this, I've always waited for the unconditional offer before handing in my notice.  In the sector I work in, its not unknown for checks to take a month or two, so depending on notice we might not see a new starter for 3 months or more.

74jax

As you need to agree a start date, a simple line on the email saying '1 month from receipt of unconditional offer' will suffice. 

concerneduk2020

Thanks everyone for your advice. I’ve decided to turn down the role, partly because I’m not prepared to take the risk with the notice, but also the difficulty I’ve faced trying to get answers to some quite simple questions has made me wonder whether the UK office is actually a bit of an afterthought. I think if I’m struggling to get answers now it will be even harder to get things sorted if there are problems when I start the role. I suspect it is a bit of a culture clash, and I am quite spoilt for benefits in my current role but that means I am even more reluctant to take a risk.