Any contract law experts about??

[Ishacoco]

I'm a solicitor but contract law is not my area of expertise.

Basically, my brother was offered a good job in the research science field which was a definite step up from his previous level. Went through interview stages, all good, then formal job offer and contract came through. BUT - there's no start date and repeated emailing to the company is proving fruitless, they just brush him off or ignore him.

The contract states the start date as 'TBC'.

At interview they vaguely mentioned a date and my brother confirmed that he would hand in his notice at the previous job and therefore be free to start then. But since then - nothing and this has been going on for about 4 months now. He's had to move back in with my parents because he could no longer afford his flat and he's now working in a pub just to earn something in the interim.

So my question is - what can he do about this? Are they within their rights to just not give him a start date when there's been a contract signed? What sort of communication should he be expecting from the company? Can he expect to start this role at some point? He's desperate to begin this job, it's pretty much his dream one so he doesn't want to just walk away unless there really is no hope.

We'd be very grateful for any advice!

TIA.

Hopeful bump

As for this to be moved to Legal or Employment issues

I think he should concentrate on getting to speak to someone at the company. Can he make a telephone appointment with HR or whoever interviewed him?

I'd be concerned that it's been 4 months and he's not heard anything. Has he tried every possible route/method of communication?

And an employer can "TBC" in a contract for start date but normally this is to take in to account background and reference checks for example. Is there any training required prior to him joining? Or any enhanced checks like DBS?

I'm afraid that other than keeping on at them there is really nothing he can do. They didn't specify a start date so it was still a conditional offer; and even if they had confirmed everything, there are still no guarantees as employers can give backword / notice even before you start. For the first two years there is almost no employment protection.

For obvious reasons it is unwise to hand in your notice without everything confirmed - like I said, even that can go wrong, but with no commitment from the new employer I'd not be advising anyone to resign.

I hate to say this, but after 4 months of no contact, I'd be surprised if he still has the offer. I think he needs to focus on job-hunting.