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I told them I need to give my current employer a notice period of three weeks. Then I received an offer letter with a start date which respects that. The offer letter says it is subject to background checks. I signed the offer letter.

I am talking about a consulting agreement.

If there's a delay caused by a background check and the start date needs to be pushed back, should a new contract or contract amendment be signed including the new start date after I receive a note from HR telling me I am clear?

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    This question seems related: Pushing start date back depending on background check
    – toolic
    Commented Dec 25, 2022 at 15:59
  • @toolic Thanks for commenting. Yes, it's related but it does not answer my question (whether or not a new contract or contract amendment should be signed)
    – jesolit884
    Commented Dec 25, 2022 at 16:47
  • Does the contract explicitly include the start date? I don't think mine did.
    – keshlam
    Commented Dec 25, 2022 at 16:58
  • @keshlam Yes, the contract indicates the date the work will commence
    – jesolit884
    Commented Dec 25, 2022 at 17:12
  • It really depends on the exact type of work, but it's also possible that employment can commence, while the background check is ongoing. If it is rare for background checks to fail, this may be preferable to delaying the start of employment.
    – Gregory Currie
    Commented Dec 26, 2022 at 12:09

2 Answers 2

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If there's a delay caused by a background check and the start date needs to be pushed back, should a new contract or contract amendment be signed including the new start date after I receive a note from HR telling me I am clear?

You have a contract offer with a contingency, the background check.

When that contingency is removed, they should send you a new offer letter with no contingency, and possibly a new start date. If the background check is done quickly, then there may be no need to update the start date, but there should be a new date if the three week notice period would take you beyond the original estimated start date.

I would expect a new updated offer letter as each contingency is removed.

I told them I need to give my current employer a notice period of three weeks.

I wouldn't give notice until I received in writing that all contingencies have been removed, and have returned the signed updated offer letter.

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  • I am not aware of companies that re-send employment contracts to be re-signed once background checks are complete.
    – Gregory Currie
    Commented Dec 26, 2022 at 11:56
  • I have had this done with me personally several times. It has also been done with one of my children. I also know that when the company I currently work for makes an offer there are always contingencies: background, customer approval, and sometimes the awarding a of a new customer contract. As these contingencies are removed a new offer letter is generated.
    – mhoran_psprep
    Commented Dec 26, 2022 at 12:01
  • Are you sure the initial documents you received were not letters of intent or something like that? Where I am, contracts are pretty serious, and having multiple contracts that overlap each other can create ambiguity and inconsistency, which is problematic in court.
    – Gregory Currie
    Commented Dec 26, 2022 at 12:04
  • @mhoran_psprep So after contingencies are removed, a new offer letter is generated and that new offer letter should not mention any contingencies. Right?
    – jesolit884
    Commented Dec 26, 2022 at 19:00
  • @jesolit884, that is what I expect and have observed. You want in writing that everything is good to go, so you can tell your current employer that you will be leaving.
    – mhoran_psprep
    Commented Dec 26, 2022 at 19:08
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It sounds like you've already agreed that your employment can only commence once your background check is complete. Given that, it seems they are able to delay your employment while the background check process is ongoing.

There is no need for a subsequent agreement.

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