Hi there

I wondered if any good people out there could help me out!

Just before Christmas we made a verbal off to someone who would join us from a competitor, they verbally accepted but also wanted to check out a restrictive covenant in their current contract with ACAS. They have so far been unable to get an appointment with ACAS and have not handed in their notice with their current employer. No start date was agreed.

Now that the recession has started to hit us, the decision has been made from on high (with little regard to HR practices!) that all recruitment stops NOW, regardless of how far down the process people are!!

Throughout my career to date I have always treated verbal offers the same as written ones, and i’m struggling to find any case studies that refer to withdrawing a verbal offer only written ones. Should we offer this person notice paid at the agreed rate of pay as someone in the offered position would normally receive?

Many thanks!

C
claire buckley