What is an Offer Letter?
An offer letter is a document exchanged with a prospective employee after a successful job interview. It is a document that employers send to announce a job offer to a candidate. It contains superficial information about the potential position, such as the company’s location and the proposed salary. Depending on the company’s policy and hiring process, the candidate will receive the offer via email or in writing. The letter also allows the candidate to know the majority of the contingencies of the position and the company.
Applicable Law
The employment may be subject to the terms and conditions of the applicable Shops and Establishments Act or Factories Act depending on the nature of the activity carried on by the employer. Each state in India has its own Shops and Establishments Act which lays down certain terms regarding working hours, overtime etc.
Elements of a Job Offer Letter
- Company logo– Just like any other contract, use your company’s official letterhead to draft offer letters for potential candidates.
- Date, candidate information, and subject– To start your letter, include the date of drafting the letter, candidate’s name, and their address. Following this, include the subject line as “Offer For Employment” or “Appointment for the post_______”.
- Greetings and an opening statement– Begin your letter with the excitement of having someone new join your team. The best practice is to start your letter with “Dear” followed by their first name and an opening statement along these lines of “It gives us immense pleasure to offer you a position at [company name].”
- Job title, type of employment, and employment tenure– List the primary details of the job i.e., position the candidate has been hired for, nature of employment – full-time, internship or contracted and, the tenure of employment.
- Starting date and reporting personnel– Mention the starting date of employment. Additionally, Inform who the candidate will be reporting within the company. They will also be required to read and sign an Employment Agreement prior to beginning of employment.
- Compensation and benefits– This would essentially curtail how much the potential candidate would earn monthly and annually. Or, in the case of freelancers, this might include compensation calculated on productivity hours or tasks completed.
- Documents required and deadline– List the documents required for administrative purposes. To tackle delay, mention a deadline before which the potential hire needs to send the signed letter.
- Appreciation/Excitement– Additionally, end your letter on a positive note that makes the candidate look forward to joining your Company.
- Required signatures– It is important to make sure the letter is authentic and mutually agreed upon by both the employer and the prospective employee.
FAQs
An offer letter is a document that invites the person to work in a company or enterprise. Whereas, an appointment letter will be sent as proof of appointment after the offer is accepted.
Yes, the offer can be withdrawn by resending a rejection letter before the appointment is done.
A Human Resource Manager of the company or the director or manager can send the offer letter informing their will to hire the person as an employee of their company.
Hey @HarshitShah
The things to include in an employee’s personnel file are: