What is a conditional offer of employment? Did you ever hear about conditional offer? Lets find out what this means.
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Pulling off a Tough Feat
Landing a new job is nothing less than pulling off a tough feat. First, you go through finding yourself a proper job. Then you spend hours designing a fitting resume.
Then you prepare for the job interview and actually nail it. Just when you thought the job was yours, you were greeted by a job offer letter. You might ask,
“Hey, that’s a good thing, right?”
It isn’t bad, but you aren’t out of the woods yet. Because what you received was a conditional job offer.
What is a conditional offer of employment?
It has been a while since you have been waiting patiently for your new job. Unfortunately, the wait isn’t over yet. You have received a conditional job offer.
But the silver lining is, you have almost cleared all the prerequisites for the new job. What only remains now are just some formalities. Formalities, but quite necessary.
A conditional offer of employment means that you will be given the job once some preconditions are fulfilled.
Also Read: How to Start Careen in Politics?
These preconditions or requirements can be in the form of:
- Aptitude checks
- Background checks
- Criminal record checks
- Satisfactory references
- Drug tests, or
- Proof of eligibility to work in the location of the job.
For example, for the job of chauffeur, the employer would look for certain negatives in background checks. Whether the person has a record of drunk driving or not? The job offer might be withdrawn if such a record is discovered.
Time is of The Essence
Several conditional jobs offer also have a time limit. You might be required to provide some required documents within a deadline. If you are unable to provide them within the deadline, the offer will most likely be withdrawn.
You may request the employer for an extension, but it probably won’t happen if there is competition (which there usually is). However, if you do get an extension, it is good for you. It means the company really wants you and you have impressed them enough.
Can an employer withdraw a conditional job offer?
It is well-within rights for employers to withdraw the conditional job offer. This is especially true when you don’t meet the job conditions.
For example, for a job in a security service of Pakistan, it is a condition a citizen with dual nationalities is ineligible. If this gets discovered in background checks (which it usually does get discovered), the job offer will be withdrawn.
However, the job offer can be withdrawn even if the prerequisites are met. The employers are free to do so, provided it is not due to illegal discrimination.
What are illegal discriminations?
As we mentioned, the employer can withdraw the job offer due to any reason. However, it is against the law to do it based on illegal discrimination. The employer can not withdraw a conditional job offer if the reason is related to:
- Ethnicity
- Color
- Marital status
- Age
- Sex
- Physical disability
- Medical condition
- Or any other illegal discrimination (read here).
Also read: What is Employer Sponsorship?
Can you back out of the conditional job offer?
It happens with many. While we are in the process of getting ready for our new job, we might receive a better job offer from somewhere else. If this happens and you want to back out of the job offer, you can.
Be sure to inform the employer as soon as possible. Although, if you had already signed the employment contract, backing out is difficult. Basically, you would be breaching the contract and the company might take you to a court or try to get compensation.
However, most firms would just retract the offer because they understand the situation. In other cases, the court and lawyer fees are typically much higher than what they might get from the legal compensation.
Conclusion:
Conditional job offers are usually the final formality before your employment officially begins at a firm. This is nothing to worry about since they are mostly based on job eligibility.
As you have already passed the eligibility tests and have cleared the interview, you are probably good to go. Nonetheless, you might still want to hold off bragging about your new job.
Pro Tip: You shouldn’t brag about the new job anyway.
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