Saturday, July 4, 2009

Is it legal to retract a job offer after an offer letter has been signed

Is it legal to retract a job offer after an offer letter has been signed?
I signed an offer letter for a full-time, salaried job with an incorporated company of about 80 employees. The job was to start three months in the future. I waited two months working small freelance jobs to make ends meet while waiting for my new job to start, when suddenly the company called me in and retracted their offer, citing the poor economy's effect on their budget. They offered no compensation, and I of course was not seeking long term employment for these two months believing I had a job. Is this legal? Do I at least have an argument for unemployment? Help!
Law & Legal - 4 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
Unless your offer guaranteed employment for a set time, it is legal. But, if you have earned enough other money from other jobs over the past 18 months, you should qualify for unemployment. Not until the day you were supposed to start work though as you already knew you wouldn't be working until that day. Chalk this one up to experience and keep looking for another job. My personal philosophy is that until the day I am sitting at my new desk, I really don't have a new job. I keep looking until the day I start, and sometimes even after. A bird in the hand and all that. Good luck
2 :
You signed a contract which legally should entitle you to whatever notice period is stated on that contract as pay in lieu. Read the contract carefully and state in a letter to them that you had turned down full time employment based on the start date that they had given you. As they have now broken their side of the agreement you think you should at least be compensated for the notice period. Take any documentation from this company to the unemployment office you should be able to get JSA.
3 :
It is perfectly legal to withdraw a job offer when the job hadn't started yet. I'm not sure about unemployment, on that, check with your local office. By the way, it never hurts to always keep your eyes open for what's out there. For example, you can put a resume up on Monster or a similar site using just your initials and a phone number and/or email address that your employer doesn't know about. Like this: S.G San Francisco, CA 970.555.1234 SG15222@gmail.com
4 :
Yes it's legal unfortunately, and no you aren't covered for unemployment. Lousy situation and lousy luck, but it happens. And with the economy the way it is, it's happening more frequently. Good luck in finding another, better job

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