New job starts next week - still awaiting contract

[Namerchangee]

Hi all. I accepted a provisional job offer in January and pre-employment checks were completed about 6 weeks ago. I have emailed HR a couple of times to ask the whereabouts of my contract but it still hasn’t arrived. My new job starts next Thursday. Should I start without a written contract? Any thoughts? I really feel I can’t email HR to ask them yet another time. They told me last time they would be in touch.

Yes start, I assume you have a written offer of employment? You can sign a contract when you start. (I work in HR)

I have always started before signing a contract. I didnt even know it was thing to have a written contract before starting a job until I read it on here lol

Thanks for your reply @bowsbunniesandbooks Yes, I received an offer of employment letter after interview, stating my job offer would be subject to be pre-employment checks.

Pre-employment checks suggests it might be government, in which case this is normal. You won’t normally get your contract until after you start, as irritating as this is, but you should have had a formal offer and all your actual employment terms will either be in the job advert or easily available online which isn’t the case for most jobs. You can find information about eg civil service pensions and general civil service employment terms easily online.

This can create an irritating catch-22 because outside government it’s obviously normal to get a contract before you start. I’ve had situations where people don’t want to give notice without a contract, but I can’t get them a contract (as much as I wish I could, and as much as I understand why they want one) until they start. If you’ve accepted a formal (not just provisional) job offer on Civil Service Jobs and can no longer see a button to withdraw, it’s a formal offer and you definitely have a job.

Obviously disregard the above if it’s not government.

Actually I’ve just looked back at my original contract from when I joined the civil service and I got it before I started. But that’s because it was a fixed-term contract that ended on a specific date and not a permanent role.

You have very little to lose so if you are expected to turn up and have a start date you have a contract.
If its a private business I would not be impressed by the org as a whole and take note that your new manager or whoever is in charge of hiring for your role is bad at the people management element.
Your only risk is that the org would offer different terms or conditions but you can start job hunting again if that is what happens.

Congrats anyway

If it’s local authority it’s perfectly normal, they really are a nightmare. I was given a start date but no actual official job offer. I said I wouldn’t hand in my months notice in my current company til I had something proper, they sent over a vague email which I decided to trust, handed in my notice and only got a contract after I had started the new job. My new colleague seemed surprised that I was a bit taken aback by how unprofessional the HR Dept seemed, it was always that way apparently.

@Namerchangeeyou’re welcome! We never send out contracts until somebody has actually started, as you never know if they’ll actually turn up for their first shift or not (HR recruitment in healthcare industry).

Good luck with your new job!

If it’s local authority, as others have said, they are often a nightmare HR wise. My timetable was apply nov, interview Jan well after closing date and heard on the day, feb induction and a bit of work then an official start date in March with a contract in that week to sign. I actually worked before my start date!