Leaving a new job and contracts

[SarEl]

You cannot resign with immediate effect - not signing your contract is irrelevant, and you are, like the employer, bound by its terms. If you do so then there are risks involved. Whilst those risks are not commonplace - they happen often enough to be well worth noting. If you then take the risk - on your own head be it.

 

Those pesky contractual rights that employees like to talk about work both ways. If you resign then in law your employer can sue you for breach of contract. That must be for a loss that they can quantify, which isn't always easy to do - but it is also far from impossible. You could, therefore, end up being sued, and owing more to the employer than you ever earned plus their legal costs. This does not happen often - but it does happen and you have been told it does, so don't complain to me if it does! The problem with this one is that everybody assumes that they won't be the unlucky one, or the employer can't prove a loss, etc., etc., - if everybody was right there wouldn't be any such cases, and there are. So do remember that in the words of the Lottery "It might be you"!

 

Not getting paid any wages, accrued holiday and or expenses is more likely. Yes, this is also a breach of contract and you can sue them - but it is actually far more likley that the employer will then counter-sue for the above! This scennario is actually far more common and could possibly still end up with you owing them money! It's one of those "people in glass houses" situation - so whilst I would not tell you not to take legal action to recover anything owed to you, I would not neceaasrily recommend doing so for this reason.

 

My personal favourite - I have only come across this one once in reality - but the client also "thought it would never happen to him"... The employer finds out where you have moved to, and writes to the employer, threatening them with legal action for inducing you to breach of contract (this assumes that you are going to work somewhere else - but you'd be kind of daft to give up a job without one to go to, so I am assuming that is the case) - the new employer sacks you as a result and the old employer still sues you! So you end up unemployed, owing money, and with a CCJ.

 

I should also add that I don't understand the third point really - but if you have ordered supplies and these belong to your employer, if you keep any supplies you could be charged with theft - if you have ordered supplies which you have paid for and the company should reimburse, I would suggest you can go whistle for the money because I doubt you will ever see it.

[SarEl]

If you are determined, then I can't disagree with any of the other posters - but I definitely agree with you that amicably is the way to go if at all possible. The problem with telling people that something is a low risk is that you never know who is at low risk until the employer does it! Having met someone who has lost thousands of £'s in this "low risk process", I am always wary of simply telling people it is a low risk and err on the side of making it very clear. Perhaps a bit overly cautious - but better that than someone taking your advice and ending up on the other side of it!

[SarEl]

No - if they agreed that the supplies were needed then the responsibility for the order is theirs.