A reader submitted this question to me and I forwarded it over to employment lawyer Donna Ballman:
I was employed at a large successful company. While there, I got a call from a man who is a CEO of a smaller company offering me a job and saying he could beat whatever I was currently making. Long story short, I ended up taking the position in July at the smaller company and leaving my current position.
Two weeks ago, the same man who hired me, also hired a sales manager who has convinced my boss that myself and 1 other rep are making too much money and he is trying to significantly lower our salaries and commission structure. My question is: if this man lured me away from my position at with an offer letter of more money and is trying to renege less than 6 months later, what are my rights? Is there a law that states how long an offer letter is good/enforceable?
Donna’s answer is up at her blog and you can read it here.
Feel free to predict the answer ahead of time and see if you’re right!
Bah, websense filtered…
Too bad for the OP, looks like she picked a lemon of a company to move to.
That IS surprising – my company’s filter threw a hissy fit over timeanddate.com and called it “porn.” Funny but embarrassing sorting THAT one out . . . .
If this company is this obtuse and unethical to think that they can pull a stunt like this, then perhaps the extent of their legal might is a Lionel Hutz persona. Do you have an HR rep you can talk to? What’s the protocol for putting the muscle on THEM?
Just a quick note: Thanks to everyone who alerted me/Donna that there was a problem with her site. She found the problem (a link in one of the comments someone had left) and fixed it. Everything should be working now.
My current employer is pushing me to sign a job offer letter and relocate if I sign it how long do I have before I can change my mind and walk away from the offer ?
If it’s a contract, it’s binding once you sign. If it’s just an offer letter, it’s not binding.