Declining a Job Offer After Verbally Accepting

zola25 said:
However, the written offer has now arrived and I am not at all happy to accept many of the T&C's within the contract. I won't go into detail, but suffice to say these are not financial and directly contradict some of the answers I was given during the interview and relate to areas that are important to me. Furthermore this is not something I'd feel comfortable negotiating as there are numerous points of contention, and to be honest I am not sure I'd be happy to work for a company that have not been honest about many aspects of the position.
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I'd outline the bits you're not comfortable with... you'll very likely find if you've got an issue with a significant amount that they can't budge either... you then decline on that basis. Tis then more on them, you were happy to work for them but then they've thrown in a bunch of extra conditions and mislead you... well they're the ones changing the situation.

It might also be the case that the standard company contract states one thing but the team works in a different manner - ergo the hiring manager might not have lied to you. Then again if that is the case it isn't necessarily ideal as you may be there for some time and change teams etc.. and the new manager of the new thing might run things differently, you contract which didn't matter before (don't worry about it says your first manager, we run things differently in this team) now does matter.

Working time directive opt out ought to be a separate form and not included in your contract IMO... it is voluntary - but I guess they might encourage it with shift payments/bonuses
 
Thanks dowie, but one bit of information both the interview and the written offer agree on is that absolutely no overtime/bonus is ever paid. Although I don't enjoy O/T, at least I do get reimbursed by my current employer.

Edit: the above wasn't a problem when I thought O/T and on call were unnecessary, but become a factor when it's obvious it will be expected.
 
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zola25 said:
I do feel a level of guilt about having verbally accepted before backing out, not to mention feeling a little unprofessional. I appreciate this is my own failing, and I should not have allowed myself to be pressured into the verbal agreement. In future I'd state that I am very keen but I'd like to see the written offer before making a firm decision. This was partly due to my own inexperience as I've only worked for two employers in nearly 20 years, which means it's been years since I've had a job offer.
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I wouldn't change how you do things, a verbal offer is fine - you accept the offer just as you did... if they throw you a curve ball like they did then you flag it up to them - if they can't resolve it then you don't work for them. You didn't do anything wrong...

Suppose on your first day they give you a NDA/Non Compete agreement to sign... you've just started with them, you've signed the contract and now a new agreement has been pulled out - well if you're not happy with that you may have to walk out on your first day.

You can try and anticipate some things in advance - do you own any IP - software/apps etc.. you've created flag it up in advance...especially if it is relevant to their business.
 
zola25 said:
Thanks dowie, but one bit of information both the interview and the written offer agree on is that absolutely no overtime/bonus is ever paid. Although I don't enjoy O/T, at least I do get reimbursed by my current employer.

Edit: the above wasn't a problem when I thought O/T and on call were unnecessary, but become a factor when it's obvious it will be expected.
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that is a bit odd... if they're expecting people to put varying degrees of effort in and/or work above and beyond normal hours then a discretionary bonus ought to be pretty standard

and for unsociable hours or on call then extra shift payments or on call payments should be standard... unless they're giving you a big pay rise or high basic to reflect the unsociable hours
 
dowie said:
and for unsociable hours or on call then extra shift payments or on call payments should be standard... unless they're giving you a big pay rise or high basic to reflect the unsociable hours
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I completely agree. The company themselves were playing this down, but the techies I'd be working with told me they do informal on call, and the department head confirmed they are looking to formalise it very shortly but on an unpaid basis with potential TOIL. On it's own this sounds like a lose/lose situation, but throw in the stipulations in the contract in relation to WTD and the ability to permanently change your responsibilities and hours without recompense makes me very wary of what the future would hold should I take the job.
 
Quick update: I contacted the agent and the prospective employer this morning and listed my concerns and that I was happy to discuss them. The employer responded saying they were very sorry to hear that, but there was no offer to discuss or resolve any of the issues. This to me means I have made the correct decision, as working for them would evidently have been entirely at their mercy.

I'm a little disappointed as the day job was genuinely interesting, but overall I am relieved that I've very likely dodged a bullet.
 
tis fine, you didn't do anything wrong - they and the recruiter know why you've not taken the role - it isn't you accepting it and then going back on your word, it is you accepting it then them chucking in extra terms that you don't want... If the recruiter is professional he will still work with you for other roles.

This is a very different scenario to you simply reneging on a job because something else came up/you carried on interviewing elsewhere despite accepting an offer etc..
 
zola25 said:
I do feel a level of guilt about having verbally accepted before backing out, not to mention feeling a little unprofessional. I appreciate this is my own failing, and I should not have allowed myself to be pressured into the verbal agreement.
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I realise you've informed them now, and made the right decision, but you shouldn't feel guilty or unprofessional about "backing out"; you didn't actually accept their offer - you accepted a fictional offer which never actually existed except in the lies told to you by the agency/company.
 
Thanks all - I feel much better about this now, and having read many of the opinions on here I no longer feel any guilt about this. I gave them every opportunity to resolve the issues I had with the formal offer.
 
Haha i can't say i'm surprised that their stance is a case of "if you don't like it, tough". Just need to feel sorry for the next poor sod who falls into their trap. I'd write up a review of your experience on glassdoor, might make other potential employees aware of their fraudulent tactics.
 
zola25 said:
Thanks all - I feel much better about this now, and having read many of the opinions on here I no longer feel any guilt about this. I gave them every opportunity to resolve the issues I had with the formal offer.
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Not sure why you felt guilty in the first place. Until you have signed the contract and handed it over to them, you haven't accepted anything, and owe them no favours whatsoever.

I once got contacted by an agency for a job, had a telephone interview with the employer, hour later told I got the job and start on Monday. 2 hours later I get a call from the agency telling me the employer has scrapped the whole position and decided not to recruit anyone. They are quick to pull the plug, no reason why you should hesitate to do the same.
 
I did similar about a year ago, you need to accept that your bridges will be burnt with that company and potentially their hiring staff that may move to other companies. That said, they don't sound like the sort of people that you would want to work for. What is important is that it should in no way effect your employ-ability elsewhere.

I'm now quite wary of companies that move too quickly when recruiting, for me it is a warning bell that they most likely struggle to retain staff.
 
A2Z said:
Not sure why you felt guilty in the first place. Until you have signed the contract and handed it over to them, you haven't accepted anything, and owe them no favours whatsoever.
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In general if you accept an offer you ought to stick with it - the OP did accept their offer. Important point in this case is that he then didn't agree with the additional terms which they sent him - he was happy to work for them but they changed the parameters, ergo it is them causing the offer to fall apart.

On the other hand someone who accepts an offer then carries on interviewing elsewhere probably should feel guilty for messing the first company/hiring manager around. The fact that there are dick hiring managers/recruiters out there two isn't an excuse.
 
Semple said:
Haha i can't say i'm surprised that their stance is a case of "if you don't like it, tough". Just need to feel sorry for the next poor sod who falls into their trap. I'd write up a review of your experience on glassdoor, might make other potential employees aware of their fraudulent tactics.
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they've probably got the same boiler plate contract for all employees below a certain grade - the hiring manager might consider it a non-issue perhaps because his team works in a different manner anyway, HR on the other hand have their standard contract and aren't going to faff about going to change it for individuals unless they're very senior
 
zola25 said:
TL,DR - Is it OK to decline a job offer after accepting verbally, and how do I best avoid burning bridges with the offering company?
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I declined a job after signing the contract as I was told by someone in the know that all the work in the department I was due to join was going to be moved to another part of the country, even though I asked in the interviews if the work was secure as I knew that particular company outsourced quite a bit - they assured me it was all fine and nothing would be moving.

They were (understandably) pretty annoyed when I pulled out but have since met someone that I would have worked with and they told me the day after I pulled out the department was informed the work would be moving in 6 months!

Sometimes we find out these things for a reason - sounds like you dodged a bullet!
 
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You don't necessarily have to burn your bridges doing so. I started looking elsewhere for a job earlier in the year, had interviewed and been offered one and negotiated some of the contract terms and indicated that I would accept the offer. I had an interview the following week who then also came back with an offer and as a more attractive proposition after waiting a couple of weeks for the 2nd written contract I accepted and informed the original company I would no longer be taking up their offer (this was 3 weeks before the original company were expecting me to start).

They turned round, wished me well and told me not to hesitate getting in touch to revisit the offer if it didn't work out. Do it the right way and no bridges will be burnt unless they are very unreasonable, it's a good jobs market at the moment so good candidates are thin on the ground.
 
I've been as gentle as possible. I've approached them and laid out my concerns with the specific issues that I've only been aware of since receiving the written offer. I've offered to discuss with them, and I've stated that I'd be happy to consider future positions should these issues be addressed. They've been polite and courteous in return, but they have just chosen to end proceedings. The ball is fully in their court with respect to whether they'd consider me again. In the end even if they do choose to look at it that way, it's a shame rather than a disaster.

Although the recruitment agent was less impressed, again they were polite and professional. They did try to tell me that it's the first time in their history someone has backed out "over the small print". I explained that it's not just small print to me, it directly impacts the nature of the job. As for them, I am sure they'd work with me again as they'd still get their commission on any future job I took.
 
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