Can I change my mind after accepting a conditional job offer?

[tequilasunrises]

I’ve been offered a civil service post subject to pre employment checks and they’ve asked me to accept the offer by Monday but the checks will take another 3 months.

My current company knows I intend to leave and they have offered me the chance of promotion instead. I can’t decide what to do and Monday seems really soon to have to make a decision. Obviously the promotion isn’t definite so I don’t want to reject the offer only to be told I’m stuck where I am.

Sorry for the ramble - essentially my question is, if i accept the conditional offer, am I in breach of anything if I change my mind between now and receiving a proper contract? You do have to sign the offer acceptance form if that makes a difference.

Thanks in advance.

No theres no breach unless they changed your contract with the promotion which I doubt they would and obvs you read anything you sign before. I'd try to keep my options open until the very last minute. Make it work for you.

Well done!

Sorry I meant would there be a breach with the civil service if I accepted the conditional offer and then changed my mind and stayed in my newly promoted Role. Sorry that wasn’t clear! Thanks for your reply

No, theres nothing to be in breach of. If I were in your situation I'd accept the conditional offer and see what happens with current role until contract comes through

Perhaps you may feel as if you are misleading the new company but what they dont know wont hurt them! Well done you:)

Technically there could be a breach if you accept the conditional offer (although I obviously haven't seen the terms of your offer). However in practice they are very unlikely to do anything about it, particularly if you drop out before their checks are finalised.

I have only ever seen one claim brought on this basis in a 20 year legal career and in that case the employee was argued to be very specialised and allegedly it would have taken months to find someone else to fill the role.

Candidates pull out after accepting conditional offers all the time - CS recruitment takes so long that it’s not uncommon for people to pull out while checks are being done because they got another job in the meantime - it’s one of the reasons we keep reserve lists.

I still don't think there would be a breach. As you wouldn't have signed their contract yet.

Nope, you would not be in breach of anything.

Its annoying but it does happen so yes you can change your mind while they go through the checks. Its not good practice though and if you are in an industry that talks or a small industry I wouldn't.

Hi, I have an interview for a supervisor for the nhs in a couple of weeks. I currently work as a porter but they are different trusts. Been working for 5 years but my sickness is a little sketchy I got attacked in Broad day light in 2020 and took off 4 months for that for a broken thumb and just mentally wasn't stable. Then my thumb broke again in 2021 at work helping restrain a patient. Another 4 months due to surgeons contemplating surgery and it was during covid so hospital appointments were far and few between. I've had some time off for general sickness I.e flu(I work in a&e so I am exposed to alot of sicknesses) and also back pains because I was helping a patient off the floor back onto their trolley. So they aren't just random sicknesses here and there they have been semi serious sicknesses which prove to be ongoing. My question is if I passed the interview and they did some reference checks on me, would the sickness go against me and even have them retract their offer? This new job is right up my street and I really confidently feel like I'm the right person for it, I live 3 mins away by foot for example, I'm proactive and have great interpersonal skills. Any advice would be appreciated.

It could go against you but it really depends how things have been recently. Many Trusts ask in the reference for the number of days you've been off in last 12 months.
If they decide it's an unacceptable amount of days then you'll likely be sent to Occ health, who will look into the reasons for the absences, what treatment you've had and whether this is likely to recur. Tbh it look worse if it's due to lots of different things. One long term condition can often give some extra protection under discrimination act

Well in the last year I did have a month off due to some bad piles which required a planned procedure. That was in June 2022, and I've only been off 1 day this January and a week in February due to covid. Everyone knows that the winter months are rougher on our immune system so hopefully they see past it. One of my colleagues went to be a supervisor at one hospital, last 3 months of his time there were sick due to work. But he now is a supervisor where I work. So it's more a discretion thing then I guess