KKCheng

That's not true, it's not illegal. It may not be a completely ethical thing to do, but there's nothing to stop you quitting before you start, in the same way you can quit a job at any time during the contrat - in accordance with the notice period in your contract. An employer wouldn't think twice about reneging on a contract before someone started - they may have to pay notice / redundancy in accordance with the contract, but that's it. In fact that very thing happened to a good friend of mine.