Conditional job offers

A conditional offer means the employer wants to hire you once certain checks come back satisfactory. Almost every public sector job is offered this way. The conditions are usually references, a DBS check, right to work, qualifications or registration, and a health assessment. If one is not met, the employer can withdraw the offer. If all are met, it becomes unconditional and you agree a start date.

What the conditions usually are

The offer letter or email should list each condition. In the NHS they mirror the six NHS Employment Check Standards, and in schools they follow safer recruitment rules. Typical conditions are:

• satisfactory references, often covering the last three years of employment
• a criminal record check at the level the role requires
• proof of your right to work in the UK
• proof of qualifications the job needs, and live professional registration where relevant
• clearance from occupational health
• for some Civil Service posts, security vetting

Pre-employment checks explains what each involves and how long they tend to take.

What can lead to an offer being withdrawn

An employer can lawfully withdraw a conditional offer when a condition is genuinely not met. Common examples:

A reference that raises real concerns about conduct, or contradicts your application with different dates or a different reason for leaving. A brief or purely factual reference does not, on its own, fail the condition. More is in References in public sector recruitment.

A DBS check showing something you did not declare, or information the employer judges makes you unsuitable for the role. Employers are expected to weigh relevance, time passed and your explanation, and not reject automatically. Being on a barred list does rule you out of regulated activity with that group. See Applying for public sector jobs with a criminal record.

Failing the right to work check, or lacking the qualification or registration the job requires.

Information on your application turning out to be false, such as invented qualifications or hidden previous employment.

An occupational health outcome that you cannot safely do the job even with reasonable adjustments. This condition is the most open to challenge, because the duty to consider adjustments comes first.

What an employer should not do

An offer cannot be withdrawn for a discriminatory reason. If the real reason is pregnancy, disability, race, age or another protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010, the withdrawal is unlawful even though you never started. The Act protects job applicants in the same way as employees.

Employers also cannot add new conditions that were not part of the offer and then rely on them. If the letter lists five conditions and all five are met, the employer has nothing to fall back on.

Raising problems before they become a surprise

Most withdrawn offers involve something the employer found out late. If you know something is likely to come up, such as a conviction on a DBS check, a dispute with a previous employer or a health condition, raising it early gives the employer the chance to assess it properly. Public sector employers are used to this, and a calm explanation with context tends to go further than a discovery halfway through the checks.

The same applies to references. If your last manager has left or your previous employer has closed, tell HR at the start and suggest another referee who can confirm your dates and conduct.

Once the offer is unconditional

When the employer confirms all checks are complete and you accept, a contract exists, even before your first day. If the employer then pulls out, that is likely to be a breach of contract. What you could recover is usually limited to pay for the notice period you would have been owed, which is often short at the start of a job. The written statement of your terms must be given on or before your first day.

When to hand in your notice

The cautious answer is to wait until the offer is unconditional, or at least until the checks most likely to cause trouble are complete. Resign as soon as you get a conditional offer and a hold-up on the DBS or a reference could leave you weeks without pay, or with no job at all if the offer is withdrawn.

Tell your new employer your notice period at the offer stage so they can plan. For teachers in maintained schools, resignation dates are fixed in the Burgundy Book, which can make the timing tight; see Teacher resignation deadlines. Everyone else should check their current contract, and Notice periods covers the statutory minimums.

If you think the withdrawal was wrong

Ask the employer in writing for the reason the offer was withdrawn and which condition they say was not met. If it relates to a check, ask to see the information they relied on. If the DBS certificate contains something you think is wrong, you can raise a dispute with the DBS.

For possible discrimination or breach of contract, speak to ACAS, a trade union or a solicitor. Tribunal claims now have a 6-month time limit in most cases, and you normally have to go through ACAS early conciliation before you can bring one.