Employment law how do I Stand

comeonyouRs

I am basically looking for some advice!
Having been made redundant & suffering an accident last year. I was fortunate in late June 24 to be interviewed and offered the role with a local authority, subject to DBS and references.
On the 30th July, I received a contract (no start date) and other documents which I signed and returned.
 I was under the impression that the delay was due to checks.
 It turns out that the recruiting manger has moved on and since then very little, has been done!
I made contact with HR this week and it would appear there was a query on the DBS (wrong level applied for). It is now 3 months since I was verbally was offered this position!!

The thing is during this whole time, If I had known it was going to end up like this I would have been looking for and applying for other roles. The problem is stupidly I am invested in this role and now have lost any confidence in applying  for roles as a new search could take even longer! The way I see it I have lost potentially 6-8 weeks income I have now started claiming JSA ( first time in 46 years) £80.90 a week and have eaten into my savings!
I want to know can I claim potential loss of earnings or if my contract is even valid as of now start date?

Undervalued

comeonyouRs said:

I am basically looking for some advice!
Having been made redundant & suffering an accident last year. I was fortunate in late June 24 to be interviewed and offered the role with a local authority, subject to DBS and references.
On the 30th July, I received a contract (no start date) and other documents which I signed and returned.
 I was under the impression that the delay was due to checks.
 It turns out that the recruiting manger has moved on and since then very little, has been done!
I made contact with HR this week and it would appear there was a query on the DBS (wrong level applied for). It is now 3 months since I was verbally was offered this position!!

The thing is during this whole time, If I had known it was going to end up like this I would have been looking for and applying for other roles. The problem is stupidly I am invested in this role and now have lost any confidence in applying  for roles as a new search could take even longer! The way I see it I have lost potentially 6-8 weeks income I have now started claiming JSA ( first time in 46 years) £80.90 a week and have eaten into my savings!
I want to know can I claim potential loss of earnings or if my contract is even valid as of now start date?

I sympathise but it is unlikely you would have a claim for more than any contractual notice they would have to give you if they no longer wish to employ you.

With any new job (unless very special / unusual terms are agreed) you can be "let go" at any time in the first two years just by giving the greater of your statutory or contractual notice. Statutory notice is zero in the first month of employment then only one week for the remainder of the first two years. If contractual notice of say a month was agreed then there might be an argument that they owe you that if they no longer want you.

Legally a verbal contract is just as valid as a written one but obviously far harder to prove what was agreed.

If they are still keen to have you then you might be able to agree something but I think you will struggle to enforce it against their will.

comeonyouRs

Thank you for your quick and concise reply!
The contract states 1 months notice.
The last email I received from them on Tuesday, indicated they would hope to resolve the issue and get back to me within 24 hrs, still waiting!
I think first thing Monday morning, I will request a meeting to try and progress things!

Undervalued

comeonyouRs said:

Thank you for your quick and concise reply!
The contract states 1 months notice.
The last email I received from them on Tuesday, indicated they would hope to resolve the issue and get back to me within 24 hrs, still waiting!
I think first thing Monday morning, I will request a meeting to try and progress things!

Yes, I think that is a good idea. Politely explain the difficult position this has left you in and hope they are willing to do the decent thing.

Was a start date agreed?

comeonyouRs

No start date agreed as yet.
I did explain the situation over the phone on Monday just gone.
I plan to go higher up within the organisation and see if that will help!
Thanks again, really appreciate your time!

lincroft1710

Be very careful "going higher up the organisation". If you upset someone lower down who has the power to hire and fire, then if you do get the job, you may find it doesn't last very long. Remember that many local authorities are in a poor financial position and one wrong word may easily make them realise they could dispense with your role

General_Grant

My opinion:
If there was no start date on the documentation sent to you and the offer was subject to DBS checks and references, then you didn't have an employment contract, you simply had information about what the terms would be once appointed.

So there isn't anything to claim.  You just confirm with them that they are now getting the proper checks done and look forward to having things confirmed in due course.

It is always worth continuing your job search until actually starting a new job.

comeonyouRs

In hindsight agree I shouldn’t have put all eggs in one basket , this particular role I have been offered is exactly the role I was after and as not wanting to relocate out of area !
When I say higher up I was thinking HR manager rather than the HR support I have currently been dealing with.

Emmia

comeonyouRs said:

In hindsight agree I shouldn’t have put all eggs in one basket , this particular role I have been offered is exactly the role I was after and as not wanting to relocate out of area !
When I say higher up I was thinking HR manager rather than the HR support I have currently been dealing with.

This is still the kind of thing that is likely to rankle, I'd avoid rocking the boat if you want this job.