Signed offer, decline?

[idriveabox]

Looking for some opinions on this situation. I was recently recruited by a municipality in the town I live in. I signed the offer and have a July 30 start date.

This was a god send as I am currently commuting into Toronto, 2 hrs one way! My new trek to work will be 10 mins. All was well until I told my current employer I quit. Boss wants to keep me and offered me to work from home 2 days a week.

My questions are:
Can I turn down my new employer even though I signed the offer? Low class move, I know.

And, would you take a 10 min commute to work 5 days a week or a long commute 3 days a week and 2 days at home? (never done the work at home thing, I picture eating cereal and answering email in my underwear).

What would you do?

[ercchry]

i personally cant work from home. it would last all of two weeks till someone complains and its reversed cause i would get nothing done :rofl:

[idriveabox]

Originally posted by ercchry
i personally cant work from home. it would last all of two weeks till someone complains and its reversed cause i would get nothing done :rofl:

This is a concern. I'll be back at square one.

Jobs are equal otherwise, pay etc. Toronto has it perks though, free lunches, good scenery with the hot weather :poosie:

[Penis McNickels]

Originally posted by ercchry
i personally cant work from home. it would last all of two weeks till someone complains and its reversed cause i would get nothing done :rofl:

Seriously? Even I might get bored masturbating all day and will eventually do some work...

[ercchry]

oh i'll do work, but it wont be related to what im being paid for :rofl:

[rx7boi]

Time is money.

Use math to figure out how much you're gaining and losing because I'm too lazy to do it for you :rofl:

Working from home is a pretty sweet gig unless it turns into an on-call position. You have to be disciplined as your bosses may pay more attention to your workload and contributions while you work from home.

[Thaco]

negotiate with your boss for 3 days, then call it done :)

[ercchry]

Originally posted by rx7boi
Time is money.

Use math to figure out how much you're gaining and losing because I'm too lazy to do it for you :rofl:

Working from home is a pretty sweet gig unless it turns into an on-call position. You have to be disciplined as your bosses may pay more attention to your workload and contributions while you work from home.

gah, fine...

at 4hr/day in the car for 3 days a week vs 5 days at 20min/day in the car i would either need 40% more/year in pay OR... only work 2.25hr/day on my two at home days :rofl:

[ga16i]

Take the 10min commute and don't look back.

[botox]

Take the new job. 4hrs a day commuting is a lot of lost time. You're basically getting paid the same to work a 8hr shift at the new place vs a 12hr shift at your current work. I worked from home full time for a good year and would rather be in an office.

[idriveabox]

thanks for the responses. Anyone ever turn down an offer after signing? can they legally come after me?

[sabad66]

I'd go with the new job... even with 2 days at home you're still wasting 12 hours/week of your life away commuting, not to mention other costs like gas, tires, car maintenance, etc.

[blitz]

They won't legally come after you, but you'll never work for that company/department in the future. Or for any of the people involved in hiring you if they move onto other companies. Or any of their friends...

[ga16i]

Originally posted by idriveabox
thanks for the responses. Anyone ever turn down an offer after signing? can they legally come after me?

IANAL, but what would they sue you for? It'd be really weird to have specific remedies for not working for them for a predetermined period of time on your contract (offer of employment). You would be in the 3 month probation period, and neither you nor your employer requires any notice.

[A790]

85% of the time, people who accept counter offers from their current employer wind up quitting/being fired within 12 months.

[GQNammer]

Originally posted by A790
85% of the time, people who accept counter offers from their current employer wind up quitting/being fired within 12 months.

That's interesting. Got a link for that info? If I'm not mistaken, you're in HR, A790?

[project240]

Originally posted by A790
85% of the time, people who accept counter offers from their current employer wind up quitting/being fired within 12 months.


Curious if this is an actual statistic? Source?

[googe]

That is a 67% Of All Statistics Are Made Up statistic

[eblend]

Not ever sure why you would concider this....new job all the way. working from home is frustrating at best of times if you have to use citrix or the like, plus if your married or have a girlfriend, as far as she is concerned your free all day to do whatever, like loundry, clean up shit, take care of the kids ect, when in fact you should be working.

From home sounds fun until your productivity tanks and they fire you anyways

[Unknown303]

Originally posted by A790
85% of the time, people who accept counter offers from their current employer wind up quitting/being fired within 12 months.

Weird I read this a while back too... Probably in Men's Health I think.

[Grogador]

I wouldn't accept the counter-offer, can't find the source of the stat but http://www.topcareers.com/candidate/counter.htm and http://recruitmentdad.com/how-recruiters-deal-with-counter-offers/ and many other pages say it's a bad idea. Working from home is ok if you have the discipline and work ethic... but not really. You won't be as productive and you'll miss out on office shenanigans. All else being equal (salary, benefits, perks) how do the companies stack up, as places to work and for career advancement? I say try something new and enjoy your extra 4hrs of evenings/sleep! FOUR HOURS MAN!! Every day!

[A790]

Originally posted by GQNammer
That's interesting. Got a link for that info? If I'm not mistaken, you're in HR, A790?

Originally posted by project240
Curious if this is an actual statistic? Source?
This was quoted to me by a rep at Robert Half, so take it for what it's worth. There is obviously some bias there.


Originally posted by googe
That is a 67% Of All Statistics Are Made Up statistic
85% of all statistics are made up. ;)

[idriveabox]

Originally posted by eblend
Not ever sure why you would concider this....new job all the way. working from home is frustrating at best of times if you have to use citrix or the like, plus if your married or have a girlfriend, as far as she is concerned your free all day to do whatever, like loundry, clean up shit, take care of the kids ect, when in fact you should be working.

From home sounds fun until your productivity tanks and they fire you anyways

yup, citrix connection which can be slow as hell over wired connection. No kids, but wife will want me to walk the dog etc. while she's gone. It's a big worry that my work will be increasingly scrutinized and others in the office will be jealous that I'm there 3x week only.

good points eblend.

[idriveabox]

Originally posted by Grogador
I wouldn't accept the counter-offer, can't find the source of the stat but http://www.topcareers.com/candidate/counter.htm and http://recruitmentdad.com/how-recruiters-deal-with-counter-offers/ and many other pages say it's a bad idea. Working from home is ok if you have the discipline and work ethic... but not really. You won't be as productive and you'll miss out on office shenanigans. All else being equal (salary, benefits, perks) how do the companies stack up, as places to work and for career advancement? I say try something new and enjoy your extra 4hrs of evenings/sleep! FOUR HOURS MAN!! Every day!

thanks for the links. I wasn't aware of the stats on a counter. My current employer didn't offer any more money, just the 2 days at home. They know I hate the commute and that was their way of easing the pain. FWIW, in Ontario (and I lived in Calgary for 30 years) , commuting is the norm. I dont drive, take GO transit, but my 2 hrs door-to-door is "uncommon" among the other commuters.

The jobs are equal, the new one paying slightly more, but with less take home pay due to a larger pension contribution (city pension plan kicks ass). BUT the new job is an unknown somewhat, their are always risk, ie. boss turns out to be micro manager etc.

lots to think about. :dunno:

[Cos]

.

[A790]

Originally posted by Cos
There is a reason you are leaving your employer. The situation was only remedied when you were quitting, not before. I agree that you will either get fired or get mad again and want to work from home the other 3 days a week. Plus working for a public sector job just kicks ass.
Truth.