Does signing an offer letter that I have to join that company?
KK
This is the same question someone asked in past without a reply to it.
Could anyone kindly address this issue,
I got a job offer and eventually I signed the offer letter. The letter
was pretty standard, stating the salary, the start date, whom I would
report to, etc. The next week I got another offer from another
company, which I like better. I would like to find out how binding a
signed offer letter is, what legal consequences it might have if I turn
down the offer after I signed the offer letter.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
-KK
Barry Gold
KK wrote:
> I got a job offer and eventually I signed the offer letter. The letter
> was pretty standard, stating the salary, the start date, whom I would
> report to, etc. The next week I got another offer from another
> company, which I like better. I would like to find out how binding a
> signed offer letter is, what legal consequences it might have if I turn
> down the offer after I signed the offer letter.
If this is a simple "at will" employment, you can quit *at any time*.
Even before you start work. There would be no legal consequences.
The only circumstances I can think of where the "signed offer letter"
would be binding would be if it was for a fixed term, with no way to get
rid of you unless you breach the contract in some way. These are rare
in ordinary employment. They sometimes show up in sports, in executive
compensation packages, and in recording or movie contracts. But in
ordinary jobs, the employer reserves the right to fire you any time they
want, for cause or just because they "don't need you any more". Which
gives you the same right; you can leave any time you want to.
This is not to say that there won't be consequences. The company you
signed the offer with may be pissed-off at you, and you may never be
able to get a job with them in the future. In some industries, the word
may spread that you did this and other employers may be leery of making
you an offer. But you cannot be forced to work for a company you don't
want to work for.
I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. If you want legal
advice, see a lawyer and pay for it.
--
I pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America,
and to the republic which it established, one nation from many peoples,
promising liberty and justice for all.
Paul Cassel
The first company could concievably, take action against you if it
believed it had been damaged. For example, if it turned down others for
that job and they moved on and now the company must go through
recruiting again, it HAS been damaged.
The company would have to demonstrate damage somehow. The chances of it
being able to do so depend upon the demand for the job. For example,
most programming jobs are easy to fill now, but nurse jobs aren't.
Why not just contact the first company and ask them if they have other
candidates because you are now offered a better job and see what it has
to say?
-paul
ianal
John A. Weeks III
<kewl...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I got a job offer and eventually I signed the offer letter. The letter
> was pretty standard, stating the salary, the start date, whom I would
> report to, etc. The next week I got another offer from another
> company, which I like better. I would like to find out how binding a
> signed offer letter is, what legal consequences it might have if I turn
> down the offer after I signed the offer letter.
An offer letter is not binding. You could show up for work and
not have a job. Likewise, you are not forced to show up. The
situation that you describe does happen from time to time. The
best thing to do is notify the first company as soon as you can
so they can go to one of their backup candidates.
-john-
--
====================================================================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708 jo...@johnweeks.com
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
====================================================================
Stan Brown
>Greetings,
> This is the same question someone asked in past without a reply to it.
No, it's the same question several someones asked in the past and got
replies.
(Hint for the future: http:/groups.google.com )
You signed an offer letter, and then before your start date you got a
better offer from another company.
If the letter you signed was an employment contract, for a definite
time period, then it's probably enforceable. I it was just "yeah,
I'll come work for you", then you are almost certainly an "employee
at will", meaning you can quit whenever you like -- including before
your starting day.
> I would like to find out ... what legal consequences it might have
>if I turn down the offer after I signed the offer letter.
See above for _legal_ consequences. There may be practical (and
invisible) ones, if you get a reputation for doing this.
You can handle it in a classy way and minimize the repercussions. Go
to your new boss and say, "I'm sorry to tell you this, but I got an
offer from Company X that's too good to ignore. Nothing against your
company, and I appreciate the time and trouble you've taken, but I
just feel I'd be happier and therefore a better employee at Company
X." Some people would suggest you negotiate for a better job at this
point, or more money; I've never yet sen that end happily.
--
If you e-mail me from a fake address, your fingers will drop off.
I am not a lawyer; this is not legal advice. When you read anything
legal on the net, always verify it on your own, in light of your
particular circumstances. You may also need to consult a lawyer.
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com
Stuart Bronstein
> This is the same question someone asked in past without a reply to it.
> Could anyone kindly address this issue,
It's a very tricky issue to answer here, without all of the relevant
facts.
> I got a job offer and eventually I signed the offer letter. The letter
> was pretty standard, stating the salary, the start date, whom I would
> report to, etc. The next week I got another offer from another
> company, which I like better. I would like to find out how binding a
> signed offer letter is, what legal consequences it might have if I turn
> down the offer after I signed the offer letter.
In general an employer can never require that you work for him. You
can quit at any time irrespective of any contract you have entered
into (unless your employer is the US military).
However if you have a contract for a certain length of time, if you
break the contract your employer could prevent you from going to work
for a competetor until the end of the contract period. There could be
other penalties as well depending on the specific terms of the
contract and local law.
You really need to talk to a local business lawyer to get a good
answer to your question.
Stu
Mark Kolber
It depends on the specifics of what the letter said. Does it, for
example, have anything that says that you and they agree that you will
be employed for a specific length of time?
In general, most employment these days is "at will" which means that
either you or they can end it at any time for no reason at all. If
that's the case in your situation, the chances are good that if you
tell employer No. 1 that you have decided to accept another offer,
they'll just make an offer to their backup.
Of course, this is only "in general". Your rights in your situation
depend on your specific circumstances and are best discussed with your
attorney.
-
Mark Kolber
Denver, Colorado
=======================
email? Remove ".no.spam"
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BTW, this message is NOT legal advice. It is only very general information about
a legal topic. Legal advice depends very much on the facts and circumstances of
a specific situation and no one should make the mistake of representing
themselves based on a general summary they get from a forum, newsgroup or web
site.If you want legal advice, hire a lawyer.
Christopher C. Stacy
> It depends on the specifics of what the letter said. Does it, for
> example, have anything that says that you and they agree that you will
> be employed for a specific length of time?
>
> In general, most employment these days is "at will" which means that
> either you or they can end it at any time for no reason at all.
In other words, the logic is that you can call in and quit,
even before you have actually started.
Stan Brown
>The first company could concievably, take action against you if it
>believed it had been damaged. For example, if it turned down others for
>that job and they moved on and now the company must go through
>recruiting again, it HAS been damaged.
>
>The company would have to demonstrate damage somehow. The chances of it
>being able to do so depend upon the demand for the job. For example,
>most programming jobs are easy to fill now, but nurse jobs aren't.
The demonstration of damage is irrelevant if no tort or breach of
contract has been committed.
We don't have all the facts, but odds are very good that this is an
employment at will situation and the employee is free to quit at any
time , even before starting. Exercising that right (absent a contract
for a specific term) does not create a tort and since there's no
contract to work for a specific amount of time there's no breach of
contract either.
Basically the company would be suing for hurt feelings, and it would
have no chance to prevail.
Corwin, Prince of Amber
For all practical purposes you can call the hiring manager, explain
what happened, apologize sincerely, and that will be the end of it.
But do not delay.
Unless you're quite specialized in your field, like a nuclear
scientist, a computer programmer recognized as the king of computer
programmers, or, perhaps, a major league baseball player, with
abilities so unique they couldn't hire anyone to take your place, no
company is taking you to court over this.
This isn't your legal answer, because I'm not an employment lawyer in
your state, and I haven't seen the document, but in my experience
'offer letters' serve little if any real purpose.
Good luck in your new career.
Rick Bryan
New York, NY