Navigating Job Offers: Can I Decline After Accepting Without Serving Notice?

Hi all,

Can anyone please update me that I have already accepted the offer letter from an organization, but the appointment letter has not been signed yet. Now, I have another opportunity where I want to join. Should I serve the notice period based on the offer letter? What should I do if I do not want to join and serve the notice period?

Neha

Hi Neha,

If you haven't joined, then you can speak to them and inform that you have decided not to join them. If you have joined, then resign and serve the notice period.

Regards,
Ritu

If you haven't joined or gone to the company, then there's no problem. Reporting and joining duty is what starts the work process.

If you have reported for duty in the company, then take the courtesy of telling them that you have received a better offer of appointment and therefore, don't want to continue here. Complete the formalities.

Hi all,

I have not signed the appointment letter, but I reported for duty in the company and attended a 7-day induction program. I do not want to go there personally. What legal actions can the company take against me if I do not join and inform them via telephone that I am joining another company?

Neha

But, my salary account is getting credited for that 7 days' salary, today only... Now, what should I do... :(

- Neha

Hi Neha,

Return the money. This is the least courtesy you can show the company. You are entitled to the money for attending the induction program - but you want to have the cake and eat it too. Tell them that you are quitting and move on.

Is this your first job? Since you have attended the induction for 7 days, take your salary and inform the company that you have received a better offer and that you are joining there. Finish it off. The company will not take any legal action.

Regards, Minal

Hi,

Can you help me regarding this matter? Recently, I left the company where I was an HR Executive and had been working for more than 2 years. However, due to salary issues, I decided to leave that company. Now, the company is not providing me with an experience certificate. Will this cause any problems in the future?

Thank you for your assistance.

Hi Pranati,

Could you explain the reason why the company is not giving the Experience Certificate? This will help us assist you better in this matter.

Regards,
Ramdev

Hi Neha,

Have you received an appointment order? Please do not confuse it with AnonymousA's experience. Since you joined one week ago and have not yet received your appointment letter, if you find a better opportunity in a short time, you can switch over. However, do not mention that you received an offer from another company and worked with them for only 7 days. Being truthful about this could create a bad impression.

Also, do not inform your current employer that you are planning to join another company. Don't worry, nothing negative will happen. Before joining, please ensure that the opportunity from the other organization is better compared to your current one.

Appu

Dear Neha,

If you have not signed the appointment letter, then there shall be no legal action taken against you. Because to enter into a contract, you should have accepted the terms of appointment which you haven't signed, so there shall be no legal binding on you.

You can do one thing: take a long leave due to some personal reasons and after a week, inform your previous company that your problem may prolong for a longer duration and you are not in a position to rejoin. Kindly relieve me from my duties.

You need not return the salary credited to your account as it is a monetary reward for the work you have done there for 7 days.

Best regards,

Neha

Dear Neha,

I agree with Kapil. An Offer Letter itself means that the Company is providing an opportunity to you. It's your wish whether you want to accept it or deny it. Just accepting the Offer doesn't mean you are entering into any contract with the company until and unless you sign the Appointment Letter. So, there is no need to worry. Just talk to your HR calmly and tell them the truth about another offer. This will help you in maintaining good relationships.

Hi,

If you have not joined, there is no need to serve the notice period. Just send a Regret Letter stating that you cannot join.

If you have already joined, then yes, you must serve the notice period, subject to mutual discussion with your HR. If the notice period guarantees your salary, then you should serve it. If not, submit a Resignation letter and leave the job.

Hi,

For your future prospects and options, whenever you are going to another company, you will require an experience letter. Without it, your last experience will not be counted. I would suggest that you please speak to your reporting managers and ask for your experience letter, which is very much required when you are looking for other opportunities.

Regards,
Megha

Hi Neha,

You have just been given an offer letter, and until you sign the appointment order, I don't think you need to abide by the rules of that particular organization if you haven't joined the office yet. But if you have already reported to duty and haven't signed the appointment order, then you need to explain the situation and move on as per the norms.

Regards,
Vijaya

If you have not been given the joining information, then you should be professional enough to write to them informing them of the reason for not joining. My advice to you would be that it's a small world, and in the future, you may come across a situation where you may be seeking employment with that organization or having some kind of business interaction with them - what would be your situation then!

It appears you are in the early stages of your career; therefore, such decisions are seen as normal by employers, and they do not take them very seriously. If a polite regret letter is sent stating genuine reasons, it might be taken positively. However, if you are in the advanced stage of your career, then you might wish to reconsider declining the job offer you have already accepted.

Dear Neha,

An offer letter is only a letter of intent. The offer letter does not generally have any "notice period" clause built into it. The offer letter only states that you are required to join "on or before" a particular date.

Well, someone just asked you a very relevant question... Have you joined???? You are at absolute liberty if you choose to join another company. Only basic professional courtesy demands that you inform the company that made you the first offer that you would not be joining them.

An appointment letter is issued only after the person joins a company. I trust this answers your query.

Cheers!!!!

Vasant Nair

Hi All,

Everybody is talking about the contractual obligations regarding the offer letter and appointment letter. I am writing a full-fledged legal opinion on what a contract means. Please do read it carefully and then proceed with the appropriate course of action.

All contracts are governed by The Indian Contract Act 1872.

An agreement/contract can be oral and/or written. The interpretation clause under the act reads as follows:

(a) When one person signifies to another his willingness to do or to abstain from doing anything, with a view to obtaining the assent of that other to such act or abstinence, he is said to make a proposal:

The offer letter is a proposal.

(b) When the person to whom the proposal is made signifies his assent thereto, the proposal is said to be accepted. A proposal, when accepted, becomes a promise:

You have conveyed your acceptance to the offer letter - It became a promise.

(c) The person making the proposal is called the "promisor and the person accepting the proposal is called the promisee":

(d) When, at the desire of the promisor, the promisee or any other person has done or abstained from doing, or does or abstains from doing, or promises to do or to abstain from doing, something, such act or abstinence or promise is called a consideration for the promise:

You have attended the work - it is the fulfillment of the promise on your part.

(e) Every promise and every set of promises, forming the consideration for each other, is an agreement:

Here, you have completed the requirement of the contract.

(f) Promises, which form the consideration or part of the consideration for each other, are called reciprocal promises:

Further, you have received a salary, thus reciprocal promises are fulfilled.

Now section 10 of the act talks about what agreements are contracts. All agreements are contracts if they are made by the free consent of parties competent to contract, for a lawful consideration and with a lawful object, and are not hereby expressly declared to be void.

In view of the above definition, I am of the view that your contract is a valid contract.

The moment you joined and attended work (induction), you yourself impliedly agreed to abide by the rules and regulations of the Company.

Thus, technically you are supposed to give a notice period, which may be shorter for employees on Probation and may be 30 days for confirmed employees.

Please send a polite email to HR and inform them about your unwillingness to continue for whatever reasons and ask whether you need to provide a notice period. If so, what is that for the probation period. You may also insist on a copy of the HR policy so that you can follow the required process, etc. (thus you will be safe if your HR lies). Keep a copy of such communication.

I am sure no HR will ask for a notice period for employees leaving just after 7 days of joining as there may not be much handover, etc.

This way, you will be relieved in a professional manner and not like an absconder.

I hope things are clear now about the contractual obligations.

Regards, Balkrishna

Hi Pranati,

I missed your message in between.

One of the lessons I learned is that more than joining, the parting (quitting) has to be good. This is because, at exit interviews in most companies, there's a question asked - will you re-join us and will you refer any of your friends to this company.

Apart from my first job, I have parted amicably with my employers. Unfortunately, both the employers and employees often make the parting acrimonious. A truly good employer is one who wishes well for their employee as and when they move on. When this doesn't happen, issues like yours come up.

In one of our discussions, I mentioned that in this era of emailing, it's always advisable to mark a copy to your personal id (cc or bcc) while sending your resignation from your official id, preferably cc, as it informs your employers that you expect a reply. When you move to a new company, you can show the employers the email copy and let them know that you will submit the relieving and experience letter upon receipt. Just as it's mandatory for us to submit the resignation letter, it's equally obligatory for the employer to send us the relieving letter and experience letter to close our file.

If you have a copy of your pay slips, you can use them to show your employers the duration of your employment in the company.

Dear Neha,

I do agree with Mr. Ramesh Bashyam. Please return the money through a cheque (of course, a crossed one) along with the letter stating the resignation. Have a copy of both the letter and a photocopy of the cheque to handle any future problems, if any. You can then join the new company without any worries.

Regards,
Uniquenaga:)

The query began with an issue that Neha had received an Offer Letter and that she had not signed the Appointment Letter. This was responded to by several members.

At a later stage, it is revealed that she had actually joined the company and had worked for seven days. This changes the complexion of things.

Ideally, she should have a chat with her HR person and seek a dignified release on mutually agreeable terms and conditions. Just imagine, everything else remaining equal, if the employer were to ask her to go...what would we advise her?

One should not forget that a lot of effort, time, and money go into finding the right candidate, and if the selected candidate does what Neha wants to do, is it fair to the employer? The employer will have to start the process all over again!

My personal belief is that once you sign an Offer letter, you are morally bound to honor the commitment you have made (by signing the Offer Letter). I place a lot of value on "honoring commitments." As employers, one may find better profiles AFTER issuing the Offer Letter for a position. But then you are committed to the person you have made the Offer to.

Cheers!

Vasant Nair

Hi Kid,

You have nothing to worry about. You must be having the Appointment Letter of the previous company. You may also have some of the salary slips. Finally, you will certainly have a copy of your resignation letter, a copy of your full and final settlement statement, etc.

Once you are able to establish that you did join the company (Copy of Appointment letter), that you did receive the promised salary (salary slips, bank remittance), and that you did leave the organization (your resignation letter and its acceptance), and finally that you did receive your Full & Final Dues (Copy of the statement), you do not require your Experience Certificate. Form 19 or Form 13A (Provident Fund) will also serve the purpose.

Best Wishes,
Vasant Nair

Hi Everyone,

It would be in everyone's interest if a query, complete in all respects, is made when seeking advice.

In Neha's case, the query began with her stating that she had received an Offer Letter and if she was required to give notice, etc. Later, it was mentioned that she had actually joined the company, had worked for 7 days but had not signed the Appointment Letter.

Neha, if she had stated all these facts in one go, we could have given her "complete" advice. She asked for advice in installments and we also responded in installments. This could have been avoided, and useful time and effort could have been saved.

Someone has tried to explain the Law of Contract in extensive detail. Good information for everyone.

However, this effort reminds me of a story we got to study during school days.

There was a farmer and his wife who stayed in their farmhouse. One day they decided to go for a picnic in the woods.

The wife cooked all the goodies and packed a swell lunch and off they went.

As they went deep into the woods, the farmer happened to ask the Wife if she had locked the door of the house properly.

The wife, being what she was, wasn't too sure. She offered to go back to the house, check, and come back soon.

So off she went to check if the door was indeed locked properly.

Later in the evening, she returned, huffing and puffing, carrying the door on her back. Proud of her achievement, she plonked down before the farmer, truly but proudly tired.

The farmer was shocked to see her carrying the door. He asked why she did so.

She said that since the farmer had asked her to check if the door had been locked properly, she thought the door was so important and valuable, so she carried the door back with her lest someone take it away.

The mystery of narrating this story is hidden in one of the responses to Neha's query. Find it, and you will appreciate why I have narrated this story.

Cheers!!!!

Vasant Nair

P.S.: No offense meant to anyone pl.

Unclaimed Earned Leave has to be encashed at the time of separation, as correctly stated by Raj.

Vasant Nair