Job offer withdrawn less than a week before start date

tatsplat

Hello, really looking for some advice if anyone has been in a similar situation.
My husband recently interviewed for a position in a company after being headhunted by a recruiter. Interview went well and the recruiter called to say he had got the job. This was back in February. He was also forwarded an email from the company offering him the job, outlining hours and pay plus detailing probationary period. He handed in notice at the job he had at the time and as new job was cross country took his tools down there and rented a place there. He was due to start Monday, super excited because in his old job he was working like a dog, outside in all conditions and the new one was more specific to his area and the pay was great. Well, he got a call yesterday to say the company withdrew the job offer as the company they are subcontracted to withdrew funding for the new department and that meant no position for him to fill. We have rent to pay (in Dublin city centre no less) he bought a car because of this job and we also have a six month old baby :-(
Just wondering if he has any legal standing in a situation like this? Surely acceptance of a written job offer constitutes some kind of contractual agreement?

Del2005

You need legal advice.

But within the first year of starting a job you can be let go for no reason and employee protection does not start till the 2nd year. So even if you force the job he could be let go the next day with zero comeback.

He's to start looking for a new job ASAP. See if you can get out of the lease down the were the job was.

lifeandtimes

Del2005 wrote: »

But within the first year of starting a job you can be let go for no reason and employee protection does not start till the 2nd year. So even if you force the job he could be let go the next day with zero comeback.

It's not that black and white.

Legal advice is needed but this might fall under contract law as an offer was made,accepted and then withdrawn.

Speak to a solicitor

testicles

This post has been deleted.

lifeandtimes

testicles wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

which is why i said "might"

ohnonotgmail

lifeandtimes wrote: »

It's not that black and white.

Legal advice is needed but this might fall under contract law as an offer was made,accepted and then withdrawn.

Speak to a solicitor

all employment falls under that but employment law still applies. he could be sacked on his first day in the day with no legal comeback.

lifeandtimes

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

all employment falls under that but employment law still applies. he could be sacked on his first day in the day with no legal comeback.

I agree and that isnt disputed, however he hasnt started employment yet, there isnt a first day to sake him on. In this circumstances an offer was made,accepted and withdrawn prior to commencment of work, we dont know if it was signed or not

But the issue is pretty serious, the ops partner on the basis of being offered and agreeing to this contract handed in notice and left their previous employment, moved to the new town and is not left out hung and dry.

I wouldnt say it falls under the standard probation period sacking we know too well

Samuel T. Cogley

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

all employment falls under that but employment law still applies. he could be sacked on his first day in the day with no legal comeback.

That's not strictly true. There is limited legal recourse, not none. There are significant damages here. Not only that we're not dealing with a first day termnation but a withdrawl of, what looks to be an accepted, offer.

GM228

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

That's not strictly true. There is limited legal recourse, not none. There are significant damages here. Not only that we're not dealing with a first day termnation but a withdrawl of, what looks to be an accepted, offer.

+1, there have been some cases in the past dealing with breach of contract as opposed to employment law for example.

I also know of a similar case (was actually a gender discrimination case) a few years ago via the ET where the verbal terms of the offer were different to the written terms, thus a breach of contract.

It's also worth considering if the offer was conditional or unconditional and if the conditions were met.

Victor

tatsplat wrote: »

rented a place there.

Talk to the landlord first, to see if they are willing to come to an arrangement.

Your husband may be entitled to assign the lease under the Residential Tenancies Acts.

tatsplat

The offer was unconditional, so it wasn’t the case that he didn’t meet one of the conditions. But he handed in his notice on his old job and they’ve sent through his p45 so not sure if they would have him back. Also he was not especially happy there, overworked and under appreciated, the usual story.

He’s hopefully going to find something elsewhere, but seems absurd that a company could do this without any obligation to the party losing out.

JoeyJJ

That is scary, do you have signed and counter signed copy of the contract?

GM228

JoeyJJ wrote: »

That is scary, do you have signed and counter signed copy of the contract?

To note, contracts do not need to be signed to be enforceable. Yes it is easier to show there was a contract when signed, but once established a verbal contract is just as enforceable as a written/signed one.

ludalyni

tatsplat wrote: »

Surely acceptance of a written job offer constitutes some kind of contractual agreement?

It does but a contract can usually be terminated by one party serving notice to the other. If there was no written contract (i.e. no contractual notice period) then the statutory notice period will apply (which in this case, unfortunately, means no notice because statutory notice does not apply until the individual has 13 weeks' service).

Protection from unfair dismissal only applies where the individual has 1 year's service or more. Once this protection is in place, the employer can only dismiss where there is (1) a fair reason for the dismissal and (2) a fair process has been followed in effecting the dismissal. Otherwise, the dismissal would likely be deemed unfair by the Workplace Relations Commission if it was challenged.

However, as this protection only applies after 1 year's service, employers can effectively dismiss individuals up to that point with very little recourse on the part of the employee (unless the reason for the dismissal was discriminatory).

GM228

ludalyni wrote: »

It does but a contract can usually be terminated by one party serving notice to the other. If there was no written contract (i.e. no contractual notice period) then the statutory notice period will apply (which in this case, unfortunately, means no notice because statutory notice does not apply until the individual has 13 weeks' service).

There does not need to be a written contract, there can be verbal contracts and conditions can be implied or expressed. Also note that statutory notice (maximum of 8 weeks) will be overridden by the common law requirement for “reasonable notice” (which can be up to12 months for some professions) when dealing with a breach of contract for employment matters where no such notice is given in the employment contract. What is considered reasonable notice will be a matter of fact, not law.

Protection from unfair dismissal only applies where the individual has 1 year's service or more. Once this protection is in place, the employer can only dismiss where there is (1) a fair reason for the dismissal and (2) a fair process has been followed in effecting the dismissal. Otherwise, the dismissal would likely be deemed unfair by the Workplace Relations Commission if it was challenged.

However, as this protection only applies after 1 year's service, employers can effectively dismiss individuals up to that point with very little recourse on the part of the employee (unless the reason for the dismissal was discriminatory).

The one thing to remember is even when acting in accordance with the provisions of the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act 1973 or if you are outside the scope of the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977, a dismissal is still a breach of contract (unless provided for under the terms of the contract), the fact that the above Acts are complied with is irrelevant if you take an action for breach of contract. Too few seem to be aware that you can take a case for "wrongful dismissal" (as opposed to unfair dismissal, they are not the same), that is the way to approach a dismissal for breach of contract, reasonable notice will become a major issue in any such action.

There are many actions possible under contract and tort law for such a situation such as damages for breach of contract, damages for misrepresentation and/or breach of warranty, damages for wrongful dismissal, damages for negligence and/or negligent misstatement and breach of duty of care.

Negligent misstatement and a breach of duty of care are too huge issues when it comes to a situation like the OP has described where a potential employee has left their previous employment to take up the offered employment and subsequently that offer of employment is withdrawn. If someone relied on a potential employer’s misrepresentation and so acted to their detriment (i.e lossing their previous employment) there is a valid cause for action, it is well established that a potential employer owes a potential employee a duty of care not to make such a statement which will act to the detriment of the potential employee. It is long established that an employer can dismiss an employee for any reason or indeed for no reason at all, but that does not negate any potential action which may arise.

Saying there is very little recourse is incorrect, there are plenty of avenues to explore, however the big consideration is weighing any potential damages against costs of such an action and the chances of success (such a case is not for general solicitors, but for someone who specialises in employment law).