Help! Job offer withdrawn - after I’d already resigned!!

[JuliTooley]

Hello,

I’m absolutely devastated right now. I accepted an amazing job offer a little over two weeks ago via email, after a round of interviews and some writing tasks.

I handed in my notice at my current job expecting my final day to be a week today, with a start date the following Monday.

I was a bit concerned as the company suddenly stopped replying to a couple of questions I asked but I assumed there was an innocent explanation.

However, I’ve now been told my offer has been withdrawn with no explanation. Is this legal? I know my references were fine, admittedly one only gives factual references as company policy (big cooperate company) but the others were good personal ones from people I’d consider friends.

I’m kicking myself right now but I don’t have an actual contract, just email exchanges confirming things such as start date and salary.

Also, this isn’t a dodgy company that has withdrawn my offer, one of the people who interviewed me is a well known journalist who has a senior role at the company.

I’m financially screwed, not to mention this is an utterly humiliating situation to explain to friends, family and colleagues.

Any advice?

Ps sorry if this rant makes no sense, I am so upset.

DH was offered a job after being interviewed by the same posts in a niche firm. I'd insisted that he shouldn't resign until he got a contract because I was worried about COVID–19 (this was the backend of 2019). Oddly enough, the company didn't go ahead with its expansion plans in early 2020 and retrenched.

(DH wasn't furloughed, he's still working for the original organisation.)

Unfortunately, threats to companies come from nowhere. I'm sorry this happened to you and think it was very poor that they insisted on doing something this way round because it would always leave you disproportionately vulnerable. (Even if I do understand that some people regularly interview elsewhere to obtain a better offer to use as leverage in their organisation and have no intention of leaving.)

I forgot MN doesn't thread, so my above makes no sense. He was interviewed by the CEO, CFO and people at the very top of the company.

Is it just me or does anyone else want to know the company that did this to OP?
I was made redundant during first lockdown and have only just secured a new role starting on Monday. I'd be devastated if my new employer did this

How utterly rubbish.

You are not stupid, they acted in bad faith.

Good businesses and businesspeople do things on trust all the time - everything would fall apart otherwise.

Gosh, don't beat yourself up about the references - they offered you the job. How very unprofessional of them. It does sound as if something changed at their end, like lack of budget for example. They owe you an explanation.

Hope your current employer was understanding OP.

I was in a similarly awkward position a couple of years ago. I'd already had the conversation about why I was leaving - more potential for advancement. Then it emerged there had been a salary cock up by the new place and the drop wouldnt be worth me leaving. A right bloody mess and caused lots of sleepless nights. My workplace was happy to keep me but it was such an awkward time and all because some idiots hadnt spoken to their HR about starting salaries. Ffs. I was a bit too direct in my criticism of them so I doubt I can ever apply to them again, but not sure I would want to now!

What a dreadful situation - sounds like you’ve dodged a bullet with the other employer, just awful. Hope you get on ok OP.

A similar thing happened to someone I know. She resigned from her old job, and everything was fine until her new employer got the reference from her then current employer. It resulted in the job offer being withdrawn, and she was left with no job. She found something temporary, which led to something permanent, and she is now doing well and is happy. Everything happens for a reason. Good luck @JuliTooley

Do you know what the referencing process included and did you sign a a consent form for a background check to be run. That could include the following:

1. DBS check
2. Formal confirmation of employment
3. Formal confirmation of education
4. Social media checks
5. Bankruptcy and Insolvency
6. CCJs and Litigation

The following are not accusations but what I can tell you can go wrong during a referencing process:

Is there any possibility that there is something on your DBS check (if you did one) that is unspent? Have you been 100% accurate on your employment or education and is there any variation between your Linkedin profile (if you have one) and what is on your CV? Do you have any CCJs? Any bankrtupcy/insolvency issues?

Also - do you have an open social media profile and is there anything on there which you think an employer might be concerned by? Think LIKE the employer not whether it would bother you personally.

If you haven't signed a consent form they can't verify employment or education formally. You'd know if a DBS check was run because they also cannot do that w/o your consent. Social media, CCJs, Litigation, Bnaktrupcy etc can be done w/o your consent through online databases and it's possible they have someone in HR doing this informally who is not well trained and there's been a name match and they've decided it's a deal breaker.

Watch lists are also something to consider - your name could be spelled like someone who is on one, with a similar date of birth.

Similar to disqualified directorship searches.

I would ask them to explain the reference process for employment that they undertook and see what they say.

@JuliTooley

Thank you so much to everyone who has replied, I have taken all your comments on board. Sorry I had to go away for a while.

I still haven't heard anything back from the company. I cannot believe it still, it is probably one of, if not the best/most well known company in my industry. For them to do what they did has really knocked me down

My boss is on leave but is back tomorrow.

I will have to ask her then....

So sorry, OP.

But you've dodged a bullet. They'd be shit employers.

what a terrible situation.. good luck with your current employer..

Anyone else wondering if the OP might be in a difficult position getting the old job back knowing that the CEO doesn't seem to like her?

I hope that is not the case and that the CEO plays fair butthe higher up people go in business the concept of fairness often dissipates.

If the job offer was unconditional then by accepting the offer you may already have a contract. You should speak to ACAS.

I hope you are ok, op, and that it works our well for you. I'm guessing that not much can happen over the weekend.

I wonder if they have a Glassdoor account. If I were in OP's shoes, I would most definitely be leaving a scathing review on there, warning potential recruits of their conduct.

I know an organisation who withdrew 3 job offers for people after they’d given them contracts but before they started. They were all in their last couple of weeks of notice period with their first employers. No idea if they got their original jobs back or not.

Organisation suddenly realised it needed to save some money and due to some contracts changing didn’t need the new staff. I presume they had to pay them notice but it’s not exactly compensation if they lost their original jobs which they probably did.

Employment lawyer here.

I can't believe how many people are offering advice when they have no clue what they're talking about. Don't just google something then talk about it on the internet as it's often rubbish or you can't interpret it properly and is therefore very unhelpful to the OP (who also has the ability to google).

OP seems to have disappeared but I'm responding so that anyone reading this thread can actually know what the legal position is.

From OP's description an offer was made, the terms of which are clear enough, which was accepted by OP. That creates the employment contract. Having a formal written contract make practically no legal difference for reasons I'll come to.

OP has no unfair dismissal rights. There's no indication that the withdrawal was for a discriminatory reason (sex, race etc) which leaves limited grounds for legal complaint.

Since there's a contract in place, the only way for the employer to terminate the contract without breaching it is to give the OP the notice to which she is entitled under the contract.

We don't know what this is. This is practically the only relevance of a contract as it would have made it clear what we're arguing about.

In some sectors (such as my own) there's a presumption of notice, say 1 or 3 months. In practice, most contracts have statutory notice until probation is complete. If that was the case, statutory notice only kicks in after a month so withdrawal before she even started means no notice entitlement.

For the sake of working though an example, let's assume that OP was entitled to 1 week's notice. The failure to provide that notice was a breach of contract.

When there's a breach of contract you can sue for losses arising from that breach.

However, since these losses would only begin to accrue after the date on which OP's employment was due to start (because you don't get paid before you start work) if the withdrawal was a full week before she expected to start then there's no loss. If they withdrew the offer the day she was due to start, she'd be entitled to be paid for that week's notice.

Thanks, Level75. That was helpful and helped me to understand the issue more clearly.

my goodness you poor thing. I hope you get your job back, whatever happens.

Level75 thanks that was really helpful. I still think it’s awful that an employer can get someone to resign from their current job then basically drop them with zero notice, leaving them unemployed. But from what you’re saying that wouldn’t be considered to be a loss resulting from breach of contract?

'Well known journalist' part of the interview panel. Could you contact them directly at least to know why the offer has been withdrawn?

Thats really helpful Level75.
It seems so unfair that a breach of contract claim could not allow a reasonable claim for losses resulting from the prospective employers actions, as in tribunal where a claim can be made for reasonable future loss of earnings.
The op could potentially be unemployed for a period of time as a result of this, and also there could be knock on effects, and stress caused.
But I guess the law is the law.

" this is why you don't quit until you have a contract in hand..."

Not necessarily. Quite often the contract comes later. For most of my job changes, they refused to do the contract BEFORE I had given them my leaving date as that was part of the contract so I had to resign before.
Waiting for written confirmation by email is totally reasonable.
It's also legal to work somewhere without a contract at all (as in without a 'document', there is still a kind of contract).

Anyone else think that the well-known journalist is Andrew Neil, and this was a job with his new TV channel?

Level75, I take your points, but what do you think the OP should do?