Retraction of Job Offer

[proface]

Hi,

I'm after a bit of advice, I've search around and not really found anything that mirrors my situation, sorry for the long post.

I was on a fixed term one year contract, fully employed as an internal member of staff, receiving all the benefits of a permanent member of staff.

Around three months prior to the end of the fixed term contract, permanent positions were advertised for essentially the same job, I applied, interviewed, did some tests, and a couple of weeks later got offered the job. A provisional offer was sent to me with a salary, and I decided to negotiate this. My managers agreed to my requested salary and I was told of this, and to await a new offer after HR had agreed the salary. I was told by HR I was an internal member of staff so the only pre employment check needed was one reference from my current manager, which was done, and I presume was favorable, seen as they offered me the job.

A new provisional/conditional offer was sent to me, at the agreed salary approx four weeks later, the conditions seemed like pretty standard pre employment checks, health questionnaire, qualifications, ID, references. I accepted the offer and sent an email to the HR contact to confirm whether any of the above was needed, as I had been told I was internal and did not need to provide this info again, and the one reference from my current manager had been provided. I received no response.

My fixed term contract came to an end, however I continued to work full time and have now been working for a month essentially on no contract, being paid the same as when I was on the fixed term contract. I wasn't particularly worried about this, or having no contract as when I first started I didn't receive the actual contract until about a month into the job.

However I have now been informed that HR want to retract the job offer. I'm unsure whether they want to retract the offer entirely or retract and make a new offer at a lower salary, I suspect the latter, although it could be the former.

I have searched around and understand that conditional job offers can be retracted, however all the conditions of the job offer seem to have been satisfied before the last provisional offer was sent to me. Plus the situation seems to be complicated by the fact that I have been working in the new job and been paid (at my old salary) for this work.

Any advice?

Thanks in advance

P

[Tools]

Re: Retraction of Job Offer

As they have already offered you the position, and by you continuing to work there for a month already, you have both entered into a legally binding contract of employment.

You need to find out the specifics of their change of mind, pay, hours etc or indeed the job as a whole.

If they now want to remove you from that employment they would have to follow procedures to the letter.

[vanman]

Re: Retraction of Job Offer

from : http://www.adviceguide.org.uk


What is a contract of employment

There is always a contract between an employee and employer. You may not have anything in writing, but a contract will still exist. This is because your agreement to work for your employer and your employer’s agreement to pay you for your work forms a contract. Your employer does have to give you a written statement within two months of you starting work. The statement must contain certain terms and conditions.



If you are offered a job and the offer is then withdrawn

If an employer has offered you a job but then changes their mind and withdraws the offer, whether you can take any action will depend on whether the job offer was made subject to any conditions.

If the job offer was subject to conditions, for example, the employer needed to take up references or you were required to have a medical, and these were unsatisfactory, you will not be able to make a claim against the employer for any compensation. This is because there was never any contract of employment. There was only a conditional offer of a job and the conditions have not been met.

If the job offer was unconditional, which is unusual, you may be able to claim compensation in the employment tribunal or the county court (Court of Session in Scotland) for breach of contract.

This is a breach of contract because you were offered the job with no conditions, you accepted the offer and then the offer was withdrawn.

Although the job has not started, it has been decided that once a job has been offered and the offer has been accepted, there is a contract of employment.

If the employer then withdraws the job offer, this will be dismissal and a breach of contract.

If you have given up another job because you were offered the new job, you can also claim compensation based on what you were earning in your previous job and on how long it would have taken you to find another job had you left that job to find another one.
If an employer withdraws a conditional job offer even though all the conditions were met, you may also be able to claim compensation in the same way.
If you think that the job offer has been withdrawn because of discrimination, you could consider making a discrimination claim to an employment tribunal. You would first need to investigate the circumstances around why you were not given the job, to see if the reason was really discriminatory or not.