The last thing you want to worry about when applying for jobs is the employer rescinding your offer. It’s difficult enough to beat out all of the other applicants and get the job in the first place, but then to have it rescinded? That’s one of the sad realities facing the current job market. In fact, a whopping 26% of employees had a job offer rescinded in the past year alone.
Learn more details here about the recent trend of rescinded job offers, and keep reading below to know what you can do about it.
Knowing the facts about your job offer
It’s never nice to learn that your job offer has been rescinded, or taken back, by the employer. However, when you get the news, you should consider whether your job offer was conditional or unconditional.
- A conditional offer means that the employer can rescind it if you don’t meet their expectations, such as criminal record checks, enough references, and medical exams.
- An unconditional offer means that the job is yours without having to worry about employer expectations.
Your job offer should also have been given either in writing or verbally, but the former will be much more effective if you’re hoping to counter the rescinded offer. Your job offer should include the job title, rate of pay, start date, and location.
An employer can rescind a job offer whether it is conditional or unconditional, although they’ll need to withdraw it in different circumstances depending on this one detail.
Rescinding conditional job offers
A conditional job offer depends on certain checks the employer needs to carry out before bringing you onto the team. They might want to check your:
- Past employer references
- Criminal record
- Medical exam and past health
- Academic qualifications
- Right to work
Once the conditions are met and confirmed, the employment contract can start. However, an employer might rescind the offer if these conditions are not met.
Rescinding unconditional job offers
Unconditional job offers are supposed to be offered without any conditions, so you get the job no matter what. Once you’ve accepted the offer, your employment contract can be started. However, the unconditional offer can still be revoked if the employer chooses to, and they don’t have to offer an explainable reason.
What to do when an employer rescinds an offer
You are well within your rights to ask why your employer has withdrawn your offer, but the employer doesn’t need to give you a reason. However, we recommend asking anyway as most employers will offer a valid reason if they can, because this is both respectful and good practice.
Your employer should either call or email you to rescind the offer unless they’re meeting you in person to talk about it. This is the perfect time to talk with the employer to make sure all your questions are answered before parting ways. Here are a few things you might want to consider:
- Why was the job offer rescinded?
- How does this withdrawn offer affect you? For example, do you have concerns about your mental health? Have you relocated for the job already?
- Do you need to show more evidence to clear up a mistake?
- All your concerns about why this rescinded offer has happened
- How you’d like the issue to be addressed and resolved
- Make sure you listen to their point of view after you’ve said your piece
What if you’ve been discriminated against?
When a job offer is rescinded, you might wonder whether you’ve been discriminated against. An employer could be breaking one of Australia’s anti-discrimination laws if you think they’re discriminating against things like:
- Age
- Disability
- Sex
- Gender reassignment
- Pregnancy and maternity leave
- Marriage and civil partnership
- Religion
- Race
- Sexual orientation
For example, it has been known for employees to have a job rescinded after the employer finds out that they’re pregnant. This is against the law because the employer cannot discriminate against the employee just because of the maternity leave requirement.
Final thoughts
Getting a job offer rescinded is never fun, and it can be a real blow to your confidence. Most employers will give you a reason as to why they’ve decided to withdraw the offer, but this isn’t always the case and they are within their rights not to disclose this information to you.
However, if you think you’ve been discriminated against, you might have a case to seek legal advice. We’d recommend that you talk to the employer before you get to this stage to learn everything you can about what happened, and you can use this time to tell them your side of the story.