Contract trap · Employment
Non-binding offer, long probation
The offer 'does not constitute a contract', may be withdrawn at any time and is contingent on unspecified checks; probation runs 6 months 'extendable at the Company's discretion' with reduced pay or no notice; the employee must give 1-2 months' notice while the employer can terminate immediately; an unpaid 'trial period' precedes the contract.
- Severity
- Expensive
- How often it turns up
- Common
- Holds up?
- Depends where you are
- Clause phrases
- 19
What it looks like in a contract
Redline matches these phrases against your document verbatim. Drafters rarely invent new wording — they copy it, which is why the same sentences turn up across unrelated contracts.
In English-language contracts
- This offer is contingent upon
- does not constitute a contract of employment
- may be withdrawn at any time
- probationary period of six months
- may be extended at the Company's discretion
- terminated without notice during probation
- Employee agrees to give 60 days' notice
- failure to give notice results in forfeiture of accrued
- unpaid trial
In Russian-language contracts
- оффер не является офертой
- не порождает обязательств
- испытательный срок 6 месяцев
- с возможностью продления
- на период испытания заработная плата снижается
- обязуется уведомить об увольнении за 1 месяц
- стажировка без оплаты
- трудовой договор заключается после прохождения стажировки
- оффер может быть отозван
- неоплачиваемый тестовый период
Check your own contract
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Why it bites
People resign from a job on the strength of an offer that vanishes; long probation with pay cuts is illegal in RU and capped in the EU; unpaid trial work is wage theft; long resignation notice traps you when a better job appears.
Is it enforceable where you are
The same clause can be routine in one country and void in another. What follows is what the law says where you are — not advice on your particular contract.
The rules differ sharply: in Germany and France a post-term non-compete is only valid if the employer pays compensation, in England it must go no further than protecting a legitimate interest, and in the US enforceability is state by state.
United States
At-will employment: offer letters generally non-binding, though promissory-estoppel claims exist for relocation reliance; unpaid 'trial' work for a for-profit employer violates the FLSA; forfeiture of accrued vacation for short notice is illegal in CA and some other states.
- Cited
- FLSA
European Union
Directive 2019/1152 Art 8: probation may not exceed 6 months (extensions only exceptionally); Arts 4-5: written statement of essential terms within 7 days; notice periods are statutory minimums and often must be symmetric (Germany §622(6) BGB).
- Cited
- Directive 2019/115
United Kingdom
Offer binding once accepted (breach of contract if withdrawn without notice pay); statutory notice applies during probation; Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces a statutory 'initial period' regime as day-one unfair-dismissal rights phase in (2026-27); unpaid trial shifts breach National Minimum Wage law if they are real work.
- Cited
- Employment Rights Act 2025
Russia
Оффер юридической силы не имеет (кроме приглашения в порядке перевода, ст. 64 ТК); испытание — не более 3 месяцев (6 для руководителей и главбухов; 2 недели при договоре 2-6 мес.), продление не допускается (ст. 70); пониженная зарплата на испытании нарушает ст. 3 и 70; срок предупреждения при увольнении — 2 недели (ст. 80), больший срок не применяется (ст. 9); неоплачиваемая «стажировка» — фактическое допущение к работе (ст. 67).
- Cited
- ст. 3
- ст. 64 ТК
- ст. 67
- ст. 70
- ст. 80
- ст. 9
Where this has actually happened
Regulator actions, court rulings and the contracts they were fought over.
- Directive (EU) 2019/1152, Article 8 (probation capped at six months)
- ТК РФ ст. 70 (испытание не более трех месяцев) и ст. 80 (предупреждение за две недели)
What to do
In order, from the thing that takes a minute to the thing that takes a letter.
- Ask for a signed contract (or at least a written start date and pay) before resigning and negotiate a start-date guarantee or payment if withdrawn
- Cap probation at the legal maximum with full pay
- Make notice periods equal
- Refuse unpaid trial days (a paid one-day test task instead)
- RU: insist on trudovoi dogovor from day one (ст. 67 ТК: 3 days after start).
Traps that travel with it
Drafters who use one of these usually use several.