Rant: Offered job, so quit current, then offer rescinded!!!

Was the "paperwork" that was completed an offer of employment or contract?
If so you may be able to go after them.

This is why you should never burn your bridges, and always leave on good terms, giving two weeks notice, etc.

Sorry to hear of what happened. I'm sure that if you really wanted to get back at them yould could sue them, but it's not worth it. Just talk about what happened to everyone. Word gets around quickly.

Gawd:

Stang is right, if you signed a letter of employment or a similar employment agreement you definitely have a right to go after them.

If I am not mistaken (this is coming from memory talking with an employment specialist/head hunter) you are able to go after them for possibly a years salary at the current rate they offerred you.

Now your damages will be limited as your previous employer accepted you back, but a contract is a contract.....

let us know about that paperwork....

I remember reading about this very problem. You're offered the job ... but your reaction is tepid, and they rescind the offer.

It seems like he is not denying that he sounded unenthusiastic. This can cause a very negative impression. If the employee is already sounding like he hates his job even before he starts, there's no way he's going to last.

Some people curb their enthusiasm so as not to appear too desperate. Nothing wrong with accepting a new position in a dignified manner. I think going through the application process and two interviews is enough of an expression of interest. It sounds like this prospectiveemployer was dicking around and never seriously intended to hire you in the first place.

It seems that job seekers in this country get less and less courtesy and there are precious few laws to protect them. If I had a weeks salary for every run-around I've endured from prospective employers I could take a year off with pay.

My worst story includes a company that dealt in patent law. They were looking for a technical manual writer. I went through a three stage interview, and an aptitude test that required some investment and run around.

After my first interview, I had 3 hours to find colored markers, complete the test, digitally scan it, email it back, and return for a subsequent interview. This "assignment" was handed to me without advance notice and too far from home to make use of my own facilities. So I had to purchase all supplies at the nearest open stationary shop and find a cyber cafe with enough workspace and resources to complete the assignment. In all -- a 30 dollar expenditure. Well worth it for a real opportunity, but in the end I have no idea what these clowns wanted from me.

When I returned for the second interview at a downtown Toronto hotel, it turned out they were using the lobby and tavern for business purposes without consent -- and were escorted off by police.

They responded to my application two days later by telephone to tell me that I was hired but never told me where to report for work. Subsequent attempts to find out where I was to start work turned into a real quest. Their business card only included phone numbers of an answering service. I traced their toll free fax number with the help of a friend to a Manhattan office that belonged to an investment broker.

A similarly named investment broker worked out of a residential address in Toronto, and when I visited the premises asking for the legal firm that hired me, I was told they were no longer in business and hadn't been for some months.

To this day I have no idea what these crazy fuckers wanted from me or the other applicants, but it was clear they had a lot of resources and time to waste and they assumed that this city's job applicants did as well.

Gawd said:

Then today they call me up and tell me they're retracting the offer because I didn't sound as enthusiastic as I did intially. WTF?

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That's just a nice way of saying that they have found a candidate better than you. And given the fact that you did not sign an employment contract (unheard of & to be honest - stupid move on your behalf)...Well that gave them a small opportunity to interview late applications.

Move on and learn from your experiemce.

However, your current employer is probably already searching for your replacement, considering that you had announced you were prepared to jump ship. In your circumstances, loyalty ain't worth shit.

And it is always important to keep in mind, unless you are a sole proprietor, the company will always survive without you.

Happy New Year!

Something seems overly one sided in this story. Probably another case of ineptitude on the original poster's part.

Never ever quit one job until you have signed the employment contract with your new employer. Until it is on paper, any offer is meaningless. Live and learn my friend.

If the offer was signed sealed and delivered and then they changed their minds I agree go after them. What would have happened if your old boss decided not to take you back??? Those bastards don't let them get away with it

No Such Thing As Job Security

An employer has the right to terminate an employee anytime without just cause before their probationary period ends.

Yes but the phrase is just cause and deciding that he is not as excited is not just cause. Mabey he was having a bad week or something

In the probationary period, usually 3 months, you do not need just cause.

Depends on what it said in the employment agreement......A buddy of mine took his employment agreement to a lawyer for review (we both had the same agreement) and the lawyer said much of what was in there was unenforceable. The lawyer said to go ahead and sign it and if they ever took it to court, it wouldn't stand up (the illegal aspects that is).

I don't have the time right now to go through the labour laws but if someone else knows of the statute that states an employer doesn't need just cause, please post the link. It is my understanding that if an employer decides to terminate an employee without just cause, they have to reimburse the employee with severence that is no less than 1 week's pay for every year worked (or something to that effect).

This isn't a case of severence without just cause, this is a case of not fulfulling their part of the offer of employment.

If I am not mistaken, now that I think about it, there was a verbal contract of employment the minute they offerred him a job. THIS is enforceable.

Now whether it will be financially viable to go after them is another story. I worked for a company once that spent 2 yrs and probably $10,000.00 in legal fees fighting over a disputed invoice for $475.00......

Once they offered the job, even verbally, then you have an enforceable employment contract. The problem is it's just not worth taking to court. You could go to small claims court and you'd end up getting maybe a week or two worth of pay. Presuming, of course, that you can convince the judge of your story (which may be hard to do if it was a verbal contract). Now if you couldn't go back to your old job and were now unemployed, that would be a different story and you could be entitled to more (but again, you'd have to prove it). If you had a written contract, you'd be in a much better position to argue your claim. Chances are, however, that the employer would settle with you for something like a week's pay rather than go to court.

The Employment Standards Act (ESA) outlines what type of notice (or pay-in-lieu of notice) that an employee working in Ontario is entitled to. Some occupations are exempt from the ESA (s.3), so make sure you're not in one of them.

Part XV deals with termination and severance of employment. Severance does not apply here. You'd be entitled to one week's notice (or pay-in-lieu of notice) since you worked less than one year (s.57).

http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/DBLaws/Statutes/English/00e41_e.htm

You can PM me if you want to discuss details.

WhaWhaWha, the reason we did not hire you was because you walked out of the bar and did not pay for your share of the beers.

Employers Have the Upper Hand in Our Tough Job Market

Gawd said:

I'm not gonna pursue this any further, it'd be a waste of time and resources, besides, I don't think I have a case anyway... they'll just claim it fell under the probationary period and they were justified in denying me the employment.

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Of course they were justified to let you go , it didnt work out and you were under probation , they dont owe you an explanation.

Just be thankful you still got your old job back , jobs are very scarce and companies are laying off thousands of people .