Say you have a job, its pretty stable but you want to move on up, so you apply for another one.
You do well at the interview, and are offered the job, so you hand your notice in.
In the last week of your notice, your new place of work decides its now not hiring, so there is no new job to go to, and your old place has already hired your replacement
Where do you stand? Are you entitled to some compensation? Or are you left to just fend for yourself?
You absolutely can go after compensation. As a hiring manager in my previous role, a very similar thing happened - I offered someone a job (in writing) and they accepted it. Three days later, I was told to reduce the size of my department by 10%, starting with the one who had not yet started.
Believe it or not, even though he wasn't even working at the time, he sent a letter to H.R. explaining the circumstances and said he had been "counselled" to request compensation on the basis of "promissory breach" or some such term... and they paid him. Just be sure to keep every little scrap of paperwork from the company: offer letter, non-disclosure agreement, employee handbook, emails, etc. - every bit of correspondence given to you by a (potential) employer indicates intent to hire you.
