Jobless After Offer Letter: How Should I Handle My Postponed Start Date?

Hi,

I need your valuable suggestions because I am in confusion. Actually, I have been selected by a company (let's call it X Company). They have issued me an offer letter in which they mentioned the Date of Joining (DOJ) as 11 April. After receiving the offer, I resigned from my old job a week before joining the new company. However, the new company has postponed the DOJ two times without giving me a definite date.

I have been jobless for the past 10 days. What should I do now? I would appreciate your valuable suggestions.

Regards, Vinod N

It is a difficult situation.

Have you accepted the offer to join on 11 April 2016? Meet the new company people to find out the real reason for the postponement of the joining date. Explain to them that based on this offer, which has been accepted (I hope in writing), you have resigned from your earlier job. I hope these postponements have come in writing to you. Your new company is breaching a contract by delaying your date of joining.

Hi NathRao,

I met my new company people. They are telling due to some web solution id, your DOJ is postponing. Again, they gave me a new date this month, 18th.

One more thing is they gave an offer letter by hand on April 4th, in that they mention my DOJ is the 11th. Now they changed it to the 18th of April. Is that offer valid? Is there any illegal case to proceed for this situation?

Regards,
Vinod N

If the 18th of April is not going to change, then there is no issue. The reason for the web solution is surprising. They can allow you to join as per the offer letter and then work on resolving the web ID problem. Pushing hard to facilitate your joining is important. Legal solutions do exist, but for now, it is best not to consider taking legal action. Keep it as a backup option.

Hi NathRao,

Actually, I went to my new company and asked my HR. She told me your job is confirmed, but the only thing is I need confirmation from the client who is not responding. Once he responds, I will confirm your joining.

She is telling me this and showed me the email conversation with the client. He didn't reply to even a single email.

Now tell me, what do I have to do?

Regards,
Vinod N

But I already submitted all the documents. They gave me an offer in person as well. This situation is something I have never encountered before. Why are they behaving like this?

One more thing, they actually selected two individuals - one being myself and the other person. Neither of us received a date of joining. The other person also turned down the job offer. Now, both of us are jobless.

One more thing. Actually, they selected two persons: one is me and another person. We both didn't get the date of joining. He also rejected his job. Now we both are jobless.

Did they mention to you that your joining depends on client confirmation? If not, I personally will not join a company that breaches their contract even before joining. It is better to look for other options.

All the best.