New job asking me to resign before background checks completed

[ZigAZigAhh]

I’ve accepted an offer for a new role and have started filling in all the forms and bits for the background checks. Apparently these can take up to 4 weeks. Once they have been completed I will be given the formal employment contract. I have a 3 month notice period at my current job and am planning to resign once I have the contract from the new place (which is what I have always done previously). However the new place seems to be assuming that I will be handing in my notice ASAP and will be starting in 3 months time (not 3 months + time taken for background checks). I get the impression they are not thrilled about the length of my notice period.

I’m obviously not going to resign before I get the contract, but am worried this is a bit of a red flag. Is this sort of request common?

I get the impression they are not thrilled about the length of my notice period.

Based on what?

Definitely do not resign until you have a signed contract although even then they can still decide not to go ahead, they'll just have to pay you the notice period.

Do you think your current job would reduce your notice? If so you could mention that to the new employer.

The vast majority of employers really don't expect someone to hand in their notice formally until they have a contract.

You are definitely doing the right thing by waiting for a contract.

It is a common request but I'd wait until background checks are complete too. It won't cost them anything if you quit your job and then they pull the offer (for whatever reason).

It's worth seeing if you have holiday still to take as you can often use that to reduce your notice period so you can offer a bit of flexibility.

When I told them my notice period was three months they said “we thought so, we were worried it was”.

Sorry that was in response to @user1846385927482658

They should issue the contract now if they want the process to speed up. It’s common practice to have a clause that says they can rescind if the checks fail.

Nobody should be expectrd to giving notlce before they get a signed contract. IMO its just good business to have a proper contract which protects you financial interests.

It is them trying to get you to be available sooner. It may be that they will not be able to cover the gap in the role if they have someone who is leaving sooner.
And if timing is a key reason you were offered the role I would see that as a bad sign for the organisation as a whole.

That's not the same as telling you to resign before background checks are completed.

I don't see anything wrong with that comment.

The usual thing for employers to do is offer you early exit once you've handed your notice in if that suits both parties. Have they mentioned this at all?

Is your current employer flexible about notice periods? I negotiated mine down by a month.

@user1846385927482658 sorry I thought you were asking why I thought they weren’t thrilled about my notice period. Their HR person has also said that the length of my notice period means that there will be plenty of time for my background checks to clear while I am working out my notice at my current employer, and has also given me an estimated start date in exactly 3 months time.

Unfortunately negotiating a shorter notice period won’t be an option. My current work is haemorrhaging people at the moment and I am going to be using up most of my remaining holiday balance over Christmas.

HR person sounds cheeky/inept. Just correct them on the start date.

I didn’t get my contract till a week after starting my new job. It was a bit stressful 😬

Never hand your notice in before receiving your written contract. My ds was stung by this recently - had a verbal job offer but then the football club he was going to work for got relegated from the premier league and all of a sudden there was no job. He was gutted, not only because he thought he had landed his dream job and as he had handed in his notice at his old workplace was then out of work for a couple of months. The football club acted appallingly stringing him along for two months saying HR would be in touch only to find there was no job.

Where I worked you could withdraw my resignation from my current job. So I handed in my notice and had the references not been accepted I would have withdrawn my resignation.

Either 1/ they give you a contract before checks are complete with a clause that they can withdraw it if you fail the checks OR 2/ they accept it’s 3 months plus time for checks.

Give them those options

They’re being a bit cheeky but you can just calmly give them those options

Just tell the HR you are keen to hand in your notice asap and will do so the minute you have the contract.
They are chancing their arm, it's not your fault it takes 4 weeks for background checks

Don't hand in your notice before your background checks are through.

I have worked as police staff and we never ever expected anyone to do this, so for senior staff it was usually 6 months from interview to start date as three months notice followed the background checks

This.
Surely they haven't explicitly asked you to resign on a specific date, op?