To not hand notice in until I see the new job contract?

I’ve never given notice until I have signed and returned a contract. It’s silly otherwise.

Never would resign without contracts signed. Never have. And employees haven’t expected me to. I’ve always worked for small start ups so no way of finding their policies online and quite often those policies may not exist yet!

I would never sign a legally binding contract without having expert advice, they can also help negotiate on your behalf for any terms you might not be happy with. It's a personal thing for me, clearly, but it's something that's hugely important to get right to avoid issues further down the line.

Definitely wait until you've signed the contract before you hand your notice in - I knew someone who accepted a job offer that got withdrawn the week before she was due to start - and after she had left her previous job.

Because she had signed the contract, she was able to claim her first month's wages because there was a notice period/payment in lieu of notice caluse in it. The new not-employers were not impressed but took legal advice and were told they needed to pay her the amount specified in the contract.

Wasn't ideal but at least it gave her a little income while she was having to job hunt in a hurry!

A lawyer? For an employment contract? Are you in the UK?

Frankly, if you lose the offer because of this it probably wasn't worth having in the first place

You'll need a start date in order to actually sign, but I see no reason why they can't send the contract across with "TBC" written in that part

Who gets a lawyer to read over a standard work contract? The OP hasn’t said she has been in a big negotiation for some massive deal. It’s a standard job offer and employment contract. What an insane comment

Depends what turns out to be in it
If it's a bog standard days/times/etc thing anyone can deal with that, but it's when "surprises" crop up that advice can be needed - though if it transpires that they're trying it on most with sense will walk at that point anyway so wouldn't need the lawyer

Until you’ve signed the contract, they can withdraw the job offer. Don’t hand in your notice until you’ve confirmed your new employment.

Who gets a lawyer to read over a standard work contract? The OP hasn’t said she has been in a big negotiation for some massive deal. It’s a standard job offer and employment contract. What an insane comment.

Just suggest you agree a later start date but if you are able to agree an earlier one by negotiation then you will let them know and the contract can be carried?

or (depending on your relationship with current employer) give your current employer an informal indication of what you are thinking about and ask if they would agree to an earlier departure in principle, then agree with new employer before formally signing the contract and handing in your notice (this was my approach but I had a good relationship with current employer)

Definitely wait. Dh was offered a job, contract never came through, it was always, 'so and so needs to view it, HR are querying something, there is a short recruitment freeze but you are guaranteed the role, it is yours'. He would have been without a job as clearly this contract will never come through.

I never hand in my notice till I have the contract, although i do give an informal heads up that I am considering it.

I've seen people be really caught out by handing in their notice earlier.

If you give a start date that is more than your minimum notice, does it get round this?

I agree about being cautious. Something like whether wfh is in the contract (if applicable) is important to some people, for example.

It's normal to wait to see your new contract before you give your notice in, in case there are items that need to be negotiated.

The start date in your new contract can be left blank for now and inserted once it's been agreed.

Definitely wait for the contract. I got caught like that once. Despite being a normal office, start time was 8.30 (which they hadn't mentioned) and I had primary school run to do.

It avoids any misunderstandings.

I mean there's nothing to stop them pulling a formal offer before you start, you don't really have any rights at this stage, whether you've seen the actual contract or not. But if there may be certain clauses in the contract that would stop you accepting the offer - are there? then if you wanted to be super cautious you could wait to see the contract.

(Retired) professional recruiter here, OP; as I used to tell employees don't even think of handing in your notice until you have it all in black and white

Hopefully it'll be all above board, but it's surprising how often little "mistakes" can creep in between what folk are told verbally and what's actually in the contract - and IME they're almost never in the employee's favour

My last contract was 20-odd pages long and required NDA's etc - I appreciate that's not the norm, but personally I would never sign anything legally binding without getting expert advice.

Waiting for the contract is sensible, they should understand that you're unable to hand in your notice until you have this. The contract details annual leave, sick pay (discretionary or otherwise), pension, location of working, duties and so on. I wouldn't resign from a role without these details - you're sensible to wait, it's only a couple of days.

Ridiculous comment. I've always relied on the written offer to hand notice in. But I've always worked at places that have most policies publicly available.

Even an offer can get withdrawn, nothing is cast in stone but if wait for the contract and all the t&c' s so I was happy with them before I gave notice.

definitly wait. I held on a while until contract came and saw the salary on it was several thousand less than the advert. Turns out they had made a mistake in the ad but point-blank refused to honour it even though they really wanted me to work for them!!