Job offer in email.. when to tell current employer?

[cdon]

Hi,

I have been searching for a new role and after a few interviews have been offered a job. On Friday I received a formal offer in ‘writing’ through an email which they said would also be sent in the post. Missing from the offer was start date.

I have one months notice period with my current employer and they are close enough that they may be considered a competitor, which means notice period could = gardening leave.

I have thought about it over the weekend and I’m likely to accept although I have a few more questions regarding the offer (start date, bonus/overtime, notice period).. I’m not sure when I should actually discuss this offer with my current employer though?

Do I accept the offer and wait before I have a signed contract in front of me before officially resigning? Or is the ‘written’ offer enough to make my employer aware that I will be leaving. Do I make them aware informally that this offer is on the table and to expect my resignation?

I don’t want to make the wrong move in haste and be left in a bad spot but don’t want to take the piss either.

Somehow until now I’ve only resigned from jobs to go to University or have been finishing a fixed contract, resigning and immediately starting another job is new to me. Any advice is appreciated.

[MagicalTrevor]

I would suggest you don’t advise them of anything, that just makes things more complicated.

Hand in your notice when you get the formal offer from the other company.

[llewop]

MagicalTrevor said:

I would suggest you don’t advise them of anything, that just makes things more complicated.

Hand in your notice when you get the formal offer from the other company.

Is the normal way of things - although to be fair when I got the offer (also interview arrangements and pretty much everything else) for my current job, it was all by email, nothing by post. Only exception being my now boss ringing me to talk about details of the deal.

I would add though, not least as I didn't do things quite the recommended way... it would depend to some extent on the relationships with your boss/employer etc. The timing of my offer was rubbish vs Christmas - verbal offer to formal offer took a little while; which ate up most of the time pre-Christmas to talk about things with then employer. So as I had a good relationship with my boss I told him to expect the resignation once finalised - which was in effect just a couple of working days (plus a weekend), but he was then elsewhere and I'd have not wanted to tell him on phone/email.

[mcg_]

Wait for it to be formally sorted and you’re happy with the offer. Shouldn’t be any unknowns.

Took a few weeks for my last contact to come through, always fun when you know you’re leaving but haven’t handed in your notice.

[cdon]

MagicalTrevor said:

Hand in your notice when you get the formal offer from the other company.

On the offer it stated that I will receive a contract of employment on commencement of the role.. is this something I should be looking to get up front and signed before considering it complete? I believe I started my current role without a contract in place.

The offer was a letter attached to an email and I imagine is what will be posted out to me.

[ToothbrushMan]

hold on. others may know for sure but IMHO if you are getting an offer by email isnt this usually followed up by letter via post including your contract to sign and return?

Be very careful here do not go telling your current employer until you are satisfied that the new position is iron clad set in stone done and dusted.

Is it PAYE or self employed? Maybe they are hoping you forget about the contract on Day 1? Maybe the employer is actually very responsible and they just do things in their own way and its all perfectly fine.

ive seen a few posts here where guys have had emails "offers" only for them to be withdrawn for various reasons/excuses. a bad situation if you have already resigned on the strength of an email ! If that was to occur here I honestly do not know where you stand legally in terms of whether you could sue the new employer but as you havent seen a contract yet to review and accept, the contract doesnt exist on which you might be able to sue. A legal eagle might know more here.

how can you review the contract before deciding whether to accept an offer if you only see it on your first day of starting? Plus you dont know when that might be because they still havent given you a start date yet. I treat all offers a bit like selling a car privately - you always get loads of messages from people acting interested but the car is never actually sold until they hand you the cash and you see them drive away so ignore all empty promises or delays or what ifs etc..

maybe ask if the contract can be sent through or if local I would offer to drop in and pick it up in person. Surprised the offer email didnt have the contract attached. it would have saved them additional time later on.

have they still not confirmed other details like your bonus, overtime, benefits? are you dealing via an agency or direct with the employing company?

keep us posted though...........

Edited by ToothbrushMan on Monday 29th October 08:23

[cdon]

ToothbrushMan said:

hold on. others may know for sure but IMHO if you are getting an offer by email isnt this usually followed up by letter via post including your contract to sign and return?

—-

maybe ask if the contract can be sent through or if local I would offer to drop in and pick it up in person. Surprised the offer email didnt have the contract attached. it would have saved them additional time later on.

have they still not confirmed other details like your bonus, overtime, benefits? are you dealing via an agency or direct with the employing company?

I will see today when I get home if anything additional has been posted out.

I am now dealing directly with the person who would be my manager. The offer was made very late on Friday and I believe their HR Manager is unavailable this week. This is also a relitively small company in comparison to my current employer.

The offer detailed salary, working hours, holiday, notice period and a brief note on pension, travel and health plan. No mention of bonus, overtime (although was mentioned at interview stages) or other benefits.

[wombleh]

cdon said:

they are close enough that they may be considered a competitor, which means notice period could = gardening leave.

Agree with the comments above re timing but this statement was interesting. This might also cause problems if there's a handcuff clause in your contract saying you cannot work for similar companies for a certain period, read it very carefully as that's pretty common.

[Mr Pointy]

I suggest you don't do anything about informing your current employer until you have a signed contract from the new company. It's far from uncommon for offers to fall through after you've resigned & while a contract doesn't offer much security at least you will have agreed the T&Cs. If you wait until your first day there what happens if there's something in the terms you don't like? You'll be in a very weak position.

[cdon]

wombleh said:

Agree with the comments above re timing but this statement was interesting. This might also cause problems if there's a handcuff clause in your contract saying you cannot work for similar companies for a certain period, read it very carefully as that's pretty common.

There is something in my current contract about the month following termination, but it mainly relates to contacting clients (which I don’t really be in contact with anyway) or employees of my current company.

Nothing to say that I can’t work for a competitor.

I just know that recently anyone who resigns to accept an offer at a direct competitor has been put on gardening leave, before that they were allowed to work their notice.

The company in question aren’t a direct competitor but are within a similar industry/product where they might be considered such.

[Puggit]

Mr Pointy said:

I suggest you don't do anything about informing your current employer until you have a signed contract from the new company. It's far from uncommon for offers to fall through after you've resigned & while a contract doesn't offer much security at least you will have agreed the T&Cs. If you wait until your first day there what happens if there's something in the terms you don't like? You'll be in a very weak position.

In my previous role I had a completely useless US based manager who expected me to resign from my then-current role on the basis of an offer. I told him in no uncertain terms I wasn't resigning until I'd signed a contract. I guess they do things differently over there!

[anonymous-user]

What made you begin searching for a new role?

If staying is an option, it may be that a conversation with your bosses could improve your pay and/or conditions.

[4x4Tyke]

Mr Pointy said:

I suggest you don't do anything about informing your current employer until you have a signed contract from the new company. It's far from uncommon for offers to fall through after you've resigned & while a contract doesn't offer much security at least you will have agreed the T&Cs. If you wait until your first day there what happens if there's something in the terms you don't like? You'll be in a very weak position.

This, don't resign from your current job until you have a signed hard copy contract from the new employer in your hands.

In 20 years I've had two offers that experienced problems, one took over two months to materialise the paperwork for a one year contract with a government agency. Another, an American company refused to put a contract in my hands until I'd actually resigned my current role and put a written acknowledgement from my current company in their hands. I found this very weird and ultimately told them to get stuffed, assuming they wanted me over a barrel for some reason.

[cdon]

janesmith1950 said:

What made you begin searching for a new role?

If staying is an option, it may be that a conversation with your bosses could improve your pay and/or conditions.

Somewhat underpaid but ultimately I’ve ended up in my current role as a result of company restructuring and it is not exactly the same role as when I joined.

I expect the conversation to happen but I can’t see them being prepared to match my new offer. I’m not ruling it out though.

[cdon]

Just to add to this. They have said they will draft up a contract once I respond to the offer and have answered most questions I have with regards to bonus etc. So I’m not too worried about that.

The salary offered is more than I am currently on and probably in the range for the job. Is there any reason not to negotiate? During the process I gave them a range of expected salary for the role and they came back right in the middle of the range.

I have mainly been dealing with my potential manager, do they have the authority to increase salary in the offer or is this something that only the HR manager would have?

[Blanchimont]

cdon said:

Just to add to this. They have said they will draft up a contract once I respond to the offer and have answered most questions I have with regards to bonus etc. So I’m not too worried about that.

The salary offered is more than I am currently on and probably in the range for the job. Is there any reason not to negotiate? During the process I gave them a range of expected salary for the role and they came back right in the middle of the range.

I have mainly been dealing with my potential manager, do they have the authority to increase salary in the offer or is this something that only the HR manager would have?

As it's already a rise, I would get in, get your feet under the table, then talk about salary reviews.

[Moonhawk]

Dont do anything until you have the contract in hand. I made that mistake earlier in the year and the company pulled the job.

[Mr Pointy]

Blanchimont said:

cdon said:

Just to add to this. They have said they will draft up a contract once I respond to the offer and have answered most questions I have with regards to bonus etc. So I’m not too worried about that.

The salary offered is more than I am currently on and probably in the range for the job. Is there any reason not to negotiate? During the process I gave them a range of expected salary for the role and they came back right in the middle of the range.

I have mainly been dealing with my potential manager, do they have the authority to increase salary in the offer or is this something that only the HR manager would have?

As it's already a rise, I would get in, get your feet under the table, then talk about salary reviews.

I suggest absolutely the inverse of this. Do any negotiating now, while they are still trying to attract you. You'll look a right dick if you join a company & then start talking about pay rises. There's no harm in negotiating at this point; if you don't ask you won't get, but try & come up with some good reasons why you think you should get more.

[Boozy]

Having just gone through this and working a lengthy notice period, don't accept or even entertain a counter offer - it's not worth it. I accept industries are different but I entertained the discussion and it complicated things massively when I said no and stuck to leaving.

You're leaving for a reason, if you were worth that money to them already, they'd be paying you that today.

[Drumroll]

Definitely don't hand in your notice until you are all sorted with new employer. Had a member of staff hand in his notice as he thought he had a new job. I accepted his resignation and offered his job to someone else. Comes back to me about a week later asking me to rescind his resignation as the other job had fallen through. (he had failed the medical) So the poor lad ended up with no job.