Can Companies Rescind A Job Offer? 21
Alfonso Espitia asks: "Just had a question for the general audience out there. I recently got recruited by a company, went to their job fair and the whole nine yards. After the fair I was sent a job offer, I then accepted filled out all the paper work and sent it back. I was given a start date and everything. About a week and a half or two I got a message on my answering machine saying 'About the offer that was extended to you...it is now rescinded.' Can they do this? All the paper work was filled out. I think I was more in shock that they would leave a message like this a few days before Christmas. Instead of just saying "It's urgent that we get in contact with you, can you call back?" Has anyone else had an experience like this? It's a -really- big company, so I didn't mention their name. Also, what can I do about this? Anything? I haven't tried to contact them yet, my recruiter is on vacation 'til the 2nd." I always thought an offer letter was a clear intent to hire, and that companies can't do this without penalties. Has this happened to anyone else? Is there anything Alfonso can do in this situation?
Re:Illegal? No. It's not even unethical. (Score:1)
You must be a mind-reader, numbnuts. Where did you get that info from? It's not in the original poster's write-up!
Can An Individual Rescind A Job Acceptance? (Score:1)
As an aside, I notice there was no mention of why the job was rescinded.
in Canada (Score:1)
I see it as a good thing because it gives both parties a little bit of freedom to try to see if there's a good fit.
Now to your situation - I guess it'd be legal (here, at least), because you'd be in that trial period. Kind of rude, but legal. After that period, however, there's supposed to be two weeks notice if you quit, or if they fire you (unless they want you out NOW, in which case they pay you your two weeks salary and push you out the door).
If they fire you, they had better have a decent reason, because HRDC (Human Resources Dev Canada), a gov't ministry, likes to follow up both with calls and paperwork any time someone leaves a job. If you're a small business owner, it's a pain in the butt, so you wouldn't want to get into the situation that these folks just did - you'd be interrogated.
I guess either the job closed up, or it was filled by someone cheaper (perhaps by another HR person?). In the end, would you want to work for a company that operates this way?
Re:Welcome to corporate america. (Score:1)
You also have to realize that if a company is big enough 'the left hand doesn't know what the right is doing' so to speak. The HR dept may have signed you up for a job that was no longer available and didn't know it until it was too late. Or the CIO may have ordered a hiring freeze due to budget constraints and/or sent your job to an overseas contracting firm. It really sucks, but unless there was a contract specifying that you would be employed by them for a specfic amount of time, I don't know what you can do. I suppose you could report them to the EEOC if you found out that their decision to not employ you was based on something illegal.
Re:Why not? (Score:1)
I say name them... (Score:1)
You might not have gotten the job, but they'll get quite a bit of bad news. Plus, maybe this won't happen to the next person.
Why would you want the job? (Score:1)
Bingeldac denies any responsibility for the
spelling and/or grammatical errors above.
Re:I say name them... (Score:1)
Some years ago, I was contracting for a place which gave me the impression I'd have a job until the following March/April (the deadline had slipped), and then got told on Xmas Eve 'aah
File for unemployment... (Score:1)
Something similar happened to me (Score:1)
My last interview was with the Department Head, the Exec who made the decision. He told me that, if it was his choice, I would be given an offer "on the spot". Unfortunately, the Corporation instituted a hiring freeze the day of my interview. He could not hire me! It was frustrating for BOTH of us!
Nortel Networks (Score:1)
Sounds like CSC to me. (Score:2)
Companies can do whatever the hell they want, and it's usually the HR department that decides what you'll make, not the recruiters, as nice as they may seem.
- A.P.
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* CmdrTaco is an idiot.
Re:Bummer (Score:2)
I had that happen to me. I moved my family halfway across the country at my own expense and when I went to work at the job I thought I had, I found out that they were still reviewing applicants. I took odd jobs and applied to every programming job I could find for a month until the money ran out. We sold 90% of our stuff, hooked a U-Haul trailer to the Hyundai Excel, and then moved in with in-laws halfway across the country (in the opposite direction this time). I got a contract job 3 days after hitting town (and thankfully, I'm still working there 5.5 yrs later). I had been at this job for about a week or two when my wife got a call at home. It was the first company. They had been trying to get a hold of me because I got the job. Gee, that's nice, but it was a few weeks LATE! As my wife likes to say, it was a nice adventure.
I knew a few guys in college that had accepted job offers from companies only to find out a few weeks before graduation that the position had been eliminated. By that time, if you had multiple offers, you would have already turned them down, so it's back to square one in the job search.
Re:Welcome to corporate america. (Score:2)
I watched that movie again just a few hours ago. A friend of hours and I had commented that you would also have to blow up the off-site backup location too. In my city, there are only a few off-site backup companies, so you could probably knock out the recovery plans for several corporations in one shot.
So do you raid the dumpsters behind plastic surgeons' offices too? =)
maybe??? (Score:2)
Personally I think it is in poor taste on the employers part, and if they pull something like this NOW then they are NOT the company you want to work for.
There could also be the possiblility that they found out something about you. Although they should do all their checking before they extend the offer letter, did you have to take a drug test? Was there any reason that they may do this?
I'd also look into to see how the company is doing. Is it a start up? Is it public, then how is their stock? If so that is the problem right there. If you are new out of college stay away from start up's. They are hokey, and unless you know how a work place should run, they can really screw you over, and you wont know it.
If you cannot think of ANY reason that they might recind an offer, and there is NOT a clause that gives them the right to do this, then talk to a laywer and do release their name here, so that we all can stay away from this company.
I don't want a lot, I just want it all!
Flame away, I have a hose!
Re:Bummer (Score:2)
illegal, but maybe no practical recourse (Score:2)
However, read over any copies you got and see what you agreed to. Can they "fire at will"? If so then you will still have no job. OTOH, maybe they have to give 6 weeks notice for which you theoretically could be paid. It all depends on the contract you signed. However since there WAS a signed and acknowledged contract, they could NOT rescind the offer.
--
MailOne [openone.com]
Illegal? No. It's not even unethical. (Score:3)
So this company decided to act in accordance with the agreement you struck. Where's the question?
Can they do this? Certainly. After all, you agreed to let them do it.
Is it ethical to do this? Certainly. After all, if it wasn't ethical, you shouldn't have agreed to let them do it.
Where's the question here?
generally yes, but not after it's accepted, but... (Score:3)
It sounds likely, though, that you had accepted a valid offer, forming a contract for employment with the company, and, for this reason, there was no longer any offer for the company to rescind (revoke), despite what the person who left you the message may have thought. If you really want to answer the question of whether a contract was formed, you need to carefully examine all the documents you signed to see whether there was still some decision that needed to be made by the company before you were actually hired. If there was, and no contract was formed, you're doomed.
If a contract was formed then, as yucky as it sounds, what happened legally is that you got terminated. As the other replies have indicated, the default rule in most states (assuming you're in the USA) is employment at will, which means you probably have no recourse unless your employment contract indicates otherwise -- such as providing for a 6 month term of employment or something like that. Of course, the state/country/jurisdiction you're in may provide additional protection for you, if it wasn't properly countered in the contract.
Ultimately, of course, if you really want to examine your alternatives this is question for your lawyer. Or - try a smaller company - I've always had better luck with them.
Why not? (Score:3)
Bummer (Score:4)
"At will" employment means they can let you go whenever they want with no advance notice or reason anyway...on the other hand you can quit with no notice also. In other countries you have to give 30-90 days notice if you want to quit or fire someone.
But this is the good old USA, so even though IANAL I don't think you have any recourse.