Hi all,I am expecting to recieve a couple of job offers for permanet and contract positions next week. I am due to attend the final round with another firm which is at the end of OCT. This is the company I am most interested in.Can I go ahead accepting the job offeres and do not join them should my preffered company offers me a job at the end of this month? Are there any legal obligation to join them after accepting the offer? can they sue my limited company (for contract position) or can they sue me personally for permanent positions?What is the best way to deal with this issue?RegdsAnon

Just be honest and tell them you would like to make a decision once you have all the offers in front of you. If they get sh1tty with you, accept their offer then dump them if you need to, telling them that this course of action would not have been necessary had they been a little more flexible and understanding of your situation. Just make sure you're covered to work your notice period with them, not that I can ever imagine them requiring you to actually do that.

Cynic, thanks.The issue will be if I go on and accept two offers next week then I can not cover to serve 1 month notice to both of them at the same time.I believe I can neither tell them the truth nor they would be able to hold on for more than couple of days for my acceptence of the offers.So to be safer side I will be accepting the offers on first come first basis howeever, would I create too much problems for me?Regds

Hey OP,What do you mean exactly by saying you 'Accept an offer'?The concept of notice period does not start till the day you enter their office and start working for them - so not sure what you mean by 'I can't serve notice to 2 companies at once' - you can't even physically work for 2 companies at once.As far as accepting an offer today from 1 or N companies to join them at a said future date, you have complete freedom to pull out at the last minute. So even if you accept a few offers now, provide referances, go through their checks etc and say these N companies then confirm the offer and start date - as long as you make sure you inform them before the actual start date that you will not join them, there is no legal issue at all. It's just decent to let them know a few weeks before and provide a sensible reason.Just dont accept an offer that makes you start working for one company while waiting for results from your preffered company. Even if that does happen, you can put down your papers anytime giving a valid reason and you will be fine but may have to serve the notice period.Aces

As far as I am aware, the moment I accept the offer I am bound to honour the terms of it. Do you not think offers include a start date and termination clause i.e. notice period etc?For example if it says I need to start on X date and I accept the offer to start on that date do you not think that I would need to serve them the appropriate notice at a minimum should I decide not to join them? It's the different case they may not bother me to serve the notice.In the same way do you not think if company wants to withdraw their offer before I join them but after I would have accepted their offer, they are bound to pay me a month salary as per offer/terms of employment contract.Agreed in permanent position you may not see terms of contract until you join them however, in contract jobs offer/contract are given almost at the same time.Am I missing something?

As for contracting - I agree, once you accept the offer then contracts tend to start the following week. However, standard notice period for contractors is 1 week which means either you or your employer can serve you notice of just 1 week at any point of your, say, 3 month contract. So even if you start on a contract, you could leave after 1 week's work though its really not ethical.You are missing the point regarding a perm job- As a matter of principle you may feel ethically obliged to inform them in case you accept the offer to start in, say, 2 months time and then dont join BUT there is no LEGAL obligation that you have to join them and nor are there any repercussions - of course that company may never again bother to interview if you apply later on.Now, once you join them in 2 months time and start working only then does the notice period kick in. Seriously,I think you should know what a notice period means? Why are you under the impression that if you accept an offer in Oct to start with the company in Feb 2010 but then decide in Jan 2010 to not join that you have some sort of notice period yo have to serve? You are not an employee of the company until the official start date and no sort of notice period applies before you become an employee. It's the first I have ever heard of such an absurd clause in your offer letter, if there ever was one. Is this your first time applying for multiple roles?Aces