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Summer job obligation
Waldo
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hi H/A,
This past week a friend of mine who works at a nearby store took me in because she is going away for the summer and though that I could essentially replace her for that time (late may to end of august). I met her boss, we talked for about 2-3 minutes, and he basically offered me the job (not in a very formal way I guess, speech-wise, but he also doesn't seem to talk much). We shook hands on it, I thanked him, and before I left he asked me to fill out a W-4 and W-9, so I did, and then left. We left it open as to when exactly I would start, but I told him it wouldn't be before about the second or third week of march.
2 days later I saw a posting for a job that is much less of a commute (practically where I live) and has more flexible hours. After a brief interview and tour they offered me the job, which I immediately took (and then arranged my hours for the summer). Immediately after this I sent an apologetic and cordial email to the first job's boss saying that I was sorry but that I would not be working there this summer. He sent me this email back:
When I see this I immediately think that he is full of it and is being ridiculous. I'm not opposed to telling people who need work about the job, but what he says sounds like a bunch of crap. The only things I signed were the w-4 and w-9, which are tax forms, not contracts of any sort. So I have two questions:
1) Is there any possibility that me accepting the job when I talked to him (for max 5 minutes) was some sort of oral, binding contract?
2) How should I respond? (Though this really depends on #1's answer.)
All of this is in Massachusetts by the way. Thanks in advance!
This past week a friend of mine who works at a nearby store took me in because she is going away for the summer and though that I could essentially replace her for that time (late may to end of august). I met her boss, we talked for about 2-3 minutes, and he basically offered me the job (not in a very formal way I guess, speech-wise, but he also doesn't seem to talk much). We shook hands on it, I thanked him, and before I left he asked me to fill out a W-4 and W-9, so I did, and then left. We left it open as to when exactly I would start, but I told him it wouldn't be before about the second or third week of march.
2 days later I saw a posting for a job that is much less of a commute (practically where I live) and has more flexible hours. After a brief interview and tour they offered me the job, which I immediately took (and then arranged my hours for the summer). Immediately after this I sent an apologetic and cordial email to the first job's boss saying that I was sorry but that I would not be working there this summer. He sent me this email back:
Dear Waldo,
You have a legal agreement with [store name] to work here. The only way I can release you is for you to cooperate with [my friend who got me hired] to get a qualified person to fill up the position. Time is of essence
When I see this I immediately think that he is full of it and is being ridiculous. I'm not opposed to telling people who need work about the job, but what he says sounds like a bunch of crap. The only things I signed were the w-4 and w-9, which are tax forms, not contracts of any sort. So I have two questions:
1) Is there any possibility that me accepting the job when I talked to him (for max 5 minutes) was some sort of oral, binding contract?
2) How should I respond? (Though this really depends on #1's answer.)
All of this is in Massachusetts by the way. Thanks in advance!
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now I just have drinking solutions
Waldo on
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If there was no express agreement for a notice period, you are entitled to leave the job with zero notice.
Was it crappy of you to do that? Yeah, but I certainly can't say anything. :oops:
I guess I would have talked to him in person or at least on the phone, since you had already met him. If you want to salvage anything, you could call him and say you got a much more career-job and unfortunately there was no contract signed.
I only emailed him the first time because apparently he was out of the office that day but I was told he would be reachable by email (by my friend who was in the office at the time).
Anyone with any info implying that he has any legal ground, please don't hesitate to comment.
I don't believe you could possibly be under ANY obligation to find a replacement for him, but I don't know your local laws so the chance exists. It seems you only have a verbal contract, so I'm sure you'd remember if anything like this had been explained to you.
Do you have any kind of employment hotline in your city/state? This would be a great place to start obtaining the information you need.
Also, I honestly can't imagine that a judge/court would ever force someone to do a job that they had never signed a contract for. Really at this point I'm pretty much just deciding whether to send him an email telling him that I don't have to do anything for him and to leave me alone, or just ignoring him (until/unless he contacts me again in any manner).
I doubt either of those are true. You're an at-will employee and you can be fired and/or quit at any time. And if the owner did try to pursue it, any competent labor lawyer would laugh him out of their office.
And off the cuff, without any signed contract, especially considering that he could have dumped you at any time before or after hire, you have zero responsibility for the job.
Honestly, this is the important part. If your friend bent over to recommend you for this job and you screw over the employer, it's going to hurt them professionally.
@Kako: I don't remember the conversation verbatim but it was at least verbally implied I would work there from may-ish to august (nothing signed and no discussion whatsoever of any notice period). I figure even if he figured that was binding then this is just me saying "I quit" before having worked any hours.
At that point, it's not about you looking for a better offer, it's about him not being able to compete.
This is how I would handle it.
If that's the case, fuck it. The dude sounds like an asshole.
I've had a few occasions come up with current (at the time) employers and sets of more than one potential employer where B will offer something better, but I have nonetheless felt that A should be allowed the opportunity to match B's terms. It's gone both ways in the past, but I've found in my experience that sensible people will understand your situation and in fact agree with your decision even if they're on the "losing" end of it if you look like you're trying to honor what they would see as an obligation on your part.
(But as for this guy, yeah, unless the OP absolutely must do the "right" thing, to hell with him.)
143999, in the future I think what you suggested is a decent option with more reasonable people.