Employment contract - cancel within notice period but before contract starts

[john_66]

Hello

 

3 months ago I signed an employment contract for a 6 month position at a major tech company in the UK. The job is going to start at September 30 and last until the end of March (with optional extension etc).

 

There's a one month notice clause for both sides of the contract.

 

My question is this:

I may find another offer that I would like more before this September 30, so can I terminate this contract after 1 of September but before I start working there?

The real issue is that I'm in the process of doing several interviews with other companies, but I may have some solid offers after 1st of September - what to do then?

 

Is this relevant to the 'notice' period? (Because I won't be working there when I cancel).

 

What could be the implications of canceling after 1st of September?

[RachelMD]

I'd say that if you've made the contract with the employer, you're obliged to give the months notice at any time.

 

So if, say, you gave notice on the Friday 9th September, you would be contractually obliged to start work on Friday 30th Sept. and work for them for one week until Friday 7th October.

 

Which of course would be plain daft, and it's very unlikely that they'd want you to start. They'd just find someone else.

 

But you would have to be available. If you said you weren't working for the one week of notice after the job commenced, they could (providing they could substantiate that your contractual breach subjected them to a tangible loss) sue for breach of contract.

[Sidewinder]

Once accepted, the offer, and terms associated with it would be binding on both parties - IF the employer wanted to enforce those terms.