Hi all,
need your expert advice to benefit from two job offers at same time.

Currently i have two job offers in Germany. Both equally good. I am not able to decide which is better.Lets say "A" offer ask me to join as soon as possible, and the other offer "B" can wait for 3-4 months. Is it possible that first I join offer A and in case i dont like this job then serve one month notice there and join offer B finally. Is it possible legally. Can i sign both the offers at same time.

Also suppose i like the offer "A" and now dont want to join offer B. Can i simply say no to offer B while with offer A.

Please help.

Hi,

Just some of my thoughts on this, might help you to get some clarity:

*) Equally good in what terms?:

- Job role
- career prospects
- money
- access to work location i.e travel time etc

There could be more factors, just put them down on a piece of paper. Give some weightage to the above mentioned points and check out for yourself whether they are equally good...

*) Can you figure out within a month or two whether your first job is good or not ?.

*) I dont have much of an idea about legality of signing two contracts at the same time. For me the question is more ethical than legal. Hmm.. I dont know how much of an value ethics has in today's marketplace.

that is my 2 cents and best wishes to your future..

Regards
AB

@abalag,

Thanks for your words and advice.

I'll still look for getting best out of both opportunities within legal frame.Why i am asking becuase offer B has their project starting 3-4 months later.

Thanks

Do u need WP? If both companies apply for the WP at the same time, then AvArbeit will get confused and contact both the employers. In the process, they both may come to know that u have accepted another offer.

@stutt,

Sorry, forgot to mention. I dont need WP. I have german citizenship. Any tips further ??

Thanks

From a legal point of view you could in fact sign two contracts. They will both be valid. The employer of the contract you default on could hold you liable, though, for any damages suffered by your breach of contract. And a breach of contract it will be. This threat, however, is often a paper tiger but depends on the circumstances involved and the work you were hired to do. If, for example, the employer has a third party’s project on which you were supposed to work and, because of your not turning up, the employer is unable to perform the project, the damage involved could be passed on to you, of course, minus your envisaged pay. What he cannot legally do is to force you to work for him and honour his contract. That is why many high profile contracts contain a liquidated damages clause (Vertragsstrafe).

Regarding employer A, you could negotiate a so called probation time (Probezeit). In fact, most contracts contain such a clause on their own. They are part of the employer’s contract because they usually benefit the employer as it is in his interest to get rid of you within that time in case his expectations are not met. No reason has to be given for any cancellation within that period by either party. As per law, if contained in the agreement, such a probation time shall not be longer than six months. Cancellation is possible within the agreed probation time on a two week’s notice, as mentioned, by either party.

So that is an option for contract A.

As for contract B it depends on how badly, or not, employer B needs you. When does the employer B need a definite decision? You could agree on a binding contract now and reserve yourself a back out clause, i.e “….the contract will start as of xy unless the employer receives a written notice at the latest of xy….”. Whether the employer will accept that is another question and most probably will be influenced by the reason behind that clause. The same is true if you ask for an extended time in which to accept the contract. You should ensure that such an offer specifically states the date within which to accept it. To limit damage on signing two valid contracts, make sure you have a probation time in each of them and no liquidated damages clause. Also, speaking of practical advice, make sure you have a legal insurance covering labour disputes.


Rechtsanwalt_Jain@yahoo.de

@europe2008

The german employers have thought about this well in advance.

In Germany it is not practical to sign two contracts, because there is always a clause which says Kündigung vor Beschäftigungsbeginn nicht gestattet.

Which means even if you sign both contracts you can not resign before you start working at both places.

However, you can always resign on the very first day, complaining that the coffee doesn't taste good or the receptionist is not pretty enough ;-)

Dear Vakalat, Akshay,

Thanks a lot. Excellent piece of information.

Regarding "Kündigung vor Beschäftigungsbeginn nicht gestattet".

is this only applicable if written in the contract OR is in general applies even if not mentioned in the contract.

thanks in advance.

I would suggest you something different. From my understanding, it does not make sense to join a company and left after 3 months. If you do that then you need to explain always this things when you apply for another job in future. This would be an extremely important question for the future employer.

If I would in your position then I would decide myself to go only one.If you spend your time then you should find which would be best match for your future career. As an example, You can look which one has top rank in Future Fortune magazine, yearly revenue, good reputation and so on.

you have already got some good tips. It really depends on your own current situation. If you are working at the moment and are not in a hurry then like hellonews suggested look for the ranking of the company, how stable those companies are in terms of anual turnover, who are their clients, how many employees the have, and if the position matches to your career goals. Ofcourse location of your work, and if the company has international ties could also be interesting.

If you have no job at the moment, then company A might suit you, because experience says that if a company says to join after 4 months, then they might not have the project for you yet, and are just stabilizing their human resources which can put you in compromising situation when you join if the tasks are not the one your are interested in.

If both companies are somehow same then it will be sensible to join the first. You can always change like after 6 months to a year if you don't like. You are of more value to a company which urgently needs you.