[jordanb]

> If you accept before then, they have to employ you

I've never seen a job offer that doesn't explicitly disclaim any implication that it's a binding agreement to employ you.

Maybe in California it's different but in Illinois it's unheard of that a company would legally obligate themselves to employ an engineer with their offer letter.

[ams6110]

Every offer letter I've ever received certainly had escape clauses. If it were binding it would be called a "contract" not an "offer."

That said, many startups are clueless about HR policies and employment law. My bet is that they just really don't know what they are doing.