What do employees need to know about rescinded job offers?
Moore: An employer can rescind a job offer at any time. Absent a signed employment contract between an employee and an employer that provides for a specific term of employment and specific provisions for breach by either side, a job offer is essentially a contract for employment at will. Many people think once they have an offer, it’s in writing, they sign it and return it, they think it’s a contract. But really it’s a contract for employment at will, which can be terminated at any time. Candidates are not employees until they go to work. Even at that point, they’re employees at will. After the first day of work, either party can end the relationship. Individuals don’t have a right to a position [that’s been offered to them]. Under what circumstances do employers rescind job offers? Typically, job offers get rescinded in situations where employers, for one reason or another, do not have the need for a job that they predicted they’d have when they first offered the job to a candidate. A
