Been asked to start new job Monday but I've got other commitments

Been offered a job yesterday and was asked to start this coming monday. I stupidly said yes on the phone, but now im realising that I've got other commitments both monday and tuesday. How do I tell my employer this?

Reply 1

Holby_fanatic

What are the other commitments?

Reply 2

silverbolt

unless its a medical emergency id say your work is the your new commitment, if you blow off your start date you may find yourself with lots of spare time

Reply 3

lizlaz350

Original post by kdanalouise

I had this problem - they wanted me to start work on a Wednesday and I was going into hospital that day for 3 days. I didn't want to explain why I was going into hospital for that time but I was also concerned that if I didn't tell them why I was going into hospital, they would think I was seriously ill and not capable of doing the job, which wasn't the case at all, so I didn't want to tell them I was going into hospital at all but I was worried they wouldn't allow me to change the date without a good reason.

I asked people who know these things and the general advice was that your start date is supposed to be convenient for both parties and it has to suit you as well as them. If you were currently in another job and had a notice period, they'd have to wait for that too, and if you had a holiday already booked, they'd have to wait. In the end, I just told them that I was really sorry but I had a previous commitment that I had forgotten about and that was fine with them, they accepted it.

Having said that, if it's just that you arranged to meet up with friends or something else that can be rearranged, it'd be best just to do that.