Imagine this happens to you. And it won’t be hard to imagine as it happens to thousands of people every year.
You live out of state and are looking for a new job. You interview with an Illinois based company (could be anywhere though) and eventually they offer you the job. The job requires relocation so you and your spouse sell your home, pack up your stuff and move to Illinois. You spent thousands on movers and just signed a lease for an apartment in a city where you don’t know anyone. But you are optimistic the job is going to work out and things will be great.
A week into the new job, your boss pulls you aside and lets you know that there has been a change of plans and they have to let you go. Maybe it’s because they realized you aren’t qualified. Maybe they don’t think you fit in or you did something that was a red flag. Perhaps the company had a financial downturn or found a better candidate. Now you have a lease, no friends or family around and no job.
A caller who had this exact scenario wanted us to sue because he felt that there was an implied contract that he’d have a job. Unfortunately for him there wasn’t a written contract that actually would have shown a meeting of the minds. Illinois is an “at will” employment state which means you can be let go at any time for any reason. And this is true even when you’ve up rooted your life to move here.
While an argument can be made that the employer should reimburse some moving expenses as he relied on their promises, even that is a stretch. But beyond that, it’s really hard to prove an implied contract exists. That’s because those types of situations don’t lay out an actual agreement, actual terms, how to resolve disputes or anything else that an actual written agreement does.
This situation sucks for this worker and it’s why we recommend that before you make this type of move, you ask for some guarantee as to compensation and/or employment length. Your new employer may not give it, but it’s worth at least asking the question.
Now this isn’t to say that implied contracts could never exist. They do. For example if someone tells you they want you to mow their yard every Monday and will pay you $100 a week to do it, if you mow the lawn four times and they won’t pay, they probably owe you $400. Or if a boss tells you that you’ll always have a job if the company exists. But generally speaking, if it’s not in writing you are looking at a battle to win your case.