Brtdku

There is a question on workplace.SE about a company which offered to pay travel costs for a job interview, but canceled the return ticket after ending the interview - Potential Employer Cancels Return Flight.

Generally, when arranging a job interview which requires the candidate to travel, it is common for the potential employer to pay travel cost and lodging for the candidate. In practice, the employer will ususally offer this, often in writing, but not write up a formal contract or similar document.

In that situation, can the employer later renege on the promise to pay costs? In particular, can they renege after the candidate has begun their journey, thus saddling the candidate with the travel cost?

My thoughts:

• On the one hand, a simple one-sided promise is usually not binding, as a binding agreement requires both sides to give something (called consideration in Common law).


• On the other hand, there is the notion of detrimental reliance, which appears to fit here. Also, one could argue that the candidate does provide something in exchange, namely their presence and willingness to attend the interview (basically, the company trades travel costs for having the candidate present for the interview).

So, is the promise to pay the candidate's cost enforceable or not?

Im interested in any jurisdiction, particularly European and US.

This aspect (and many others) of contract law is applicable in the US and various countries of the EU.

can they renege after the candidate has begun their journey, thus
saddling the candidate with the travel cost?

No. The company would incur breach of contract.

There is no need for a formal contract. The candidate only needs to prove that the company agreed (in writing, orally or clearly through its conduct) to cover or reimburse those expenses and that this elicited a meeting of the minds.

The agreement would be void only if the candidate incurred the expenses despite knowing (via timely notice) that the company changed its mind.

Likewise, if the candidate lied on his CV, the contract (here, the company's agreement to cover the expenses) would be voidable by the company, since the candidate's intentional misrepresentations preclude the aforementioned condition of meeting of the minds.

a binding agreement requires both sides to give something

Here, the candidate's consideration is his time and effort to accommodate the company's interest in assessing the candidate's profile at a location that is convenient to the company.

Yes the promise is binding and enforceable because of the reasons you mentioned (your consideration is making yourself available at the company's premises, and, should that not be convincing enough, detrimental reliance wipes out any doubt). You have a perfectly valid contract here.

However, a perfectly valid contract means that both parties need to perform as they represented they will, and both can be entitled to damages should the other party fail to fulfill their obligations.

If you made false representations prior to them booking the flights/accommodation (including, but not limited to lying on the CV), the company's damages may be not just what they paid to see you face to face, but also their time (which is, you know, money) and missed opportunities in hiring other candidates (which they would have invited instead of you). In this situation, should the case go to court, you are highly likely to end up owing them.

So, if you are sure that you did not make false representations and, otherwise, are not in breach of this contract, then you have a great opportunity not only to get your unexpected expenses reimbursed, but also name/shame the company and give them a great lesson. Otherwise, consider yourself lucky they are not doing the same to you.

As the question specifically asks for different jurisdictions, i'd like to weigh in with my interpretation of German law:

§670 of the Civil Code (source in German) (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, BGB) should be applicable.

It states, that a person who designates another person to do something, is required to reimburse any expenses that the other person was allowed - according to the circumstances - to consider necessary. ("Macht der Beauftragte zum Zwecke der Ausführung des Auftrags Aufwendungen, die er den Umständen nach für erforderlich halten darf, so ist der Auftraggeber zum Ersatz verpflichtet.")

§669 of the Civil Code (source in German) (BGB) makes it clear, that the designated person can claim the necessary expenses in advance. ("Für die zur Ausführung des Auftrags erforderlichen Aufwendungen hat der Auftraggeber dem Beauftragten auf Verlangen Vorschuss zu leisten.")

These conditions are probably negotiable, but without another agreement they are the default regulation.

Thus, if a company invites someone, without making it reasonably clear in advance that they won't pay for expenses, they are legally obligated to pay.

There are several times I've had interviews where I did not lie on my CV/Resume but did not fit the bill. However, when I got to the interview the job description was misleading or off, or they asked questions that were no were related to the job description.

People here are blaming you without actually having any information to back that up. Also, I believe that there is no excuse to strand someone like that and in a court, you will be able to hold the upper hand here. I suggest contacting a lawyer and finding out your options.

I've done several interviews where I flew somewhere, bombed the interview, and still was able to get home safely. What the company did was place your health, safety, and financial situation in jeopardy. Regardless of the situation, no company should just strand someone like that. It's petty and immature and I personally would never want to work for a company like that.

Under UK law you can recover any costs from them. You will need some basic evidence, such as emails or letters where they state they will fly you home.

Your costs are things you would not have had to pay if they had not stranded you. Food costs above what it costs you to eat at home, any services like hotels, showers, wifi etc, and of course your greyhound ticket and whatever it cost your friend in petrol. In fact you should claim mileage (typically 50p/mile) for your friend's car, plus any time they had off work.

If you were unable to work any days you should claim you full day rate too.

Add interest, any bank charges you had (e.g. credit card interest, overdrafts) and the like.

Small Claims Court is probably your best bet. It's cheap, you can do it online and you don't need a lawyer. Just turn up and explain what happened to the judge. Best of all it will be your local court, so if they want to defend themselves they will have to send someone or hire a local lawyer. The judge will by sympathetic and helpful, and not expect you to be a legal expert.

Small Claims court has a maximum claim of £10,000.

You can also claim for your suffering. It's difficult to put a precise figure on what you should get for your ordeal, but three days in an airport and having to eat scraps... I'd suggest £3000 as a starting point (£1000/day), assuming it doesn't push your total claim over the £10,000 mark.