MAKE YOUR FREE Job offer letter

A job offer letter is a letter offering employment following an interview. It summarises the main terms offered or can be a starting point for negotiation of employment terms.

Attract the perfect candidate with a clear statement of key job terms with this offer of employment letter. This straightforward job offer letter ensures your chosen candidate has all the information they need to accept the job and gains a favourable impression of your business. This offer letter is written in a friendly tone and sets out the offer conditions, such as references and permission to work in the UK. It also covers key terms including duties, starting salary, benefits, hours and place of work, holiday, notice or contract duration.

This document is GDPR compliant.

Use this job offer: 

• when you want to employ someone new
• when you want to make a formal offer before you're ready to sign an employment contract
• to summarise the main terms offered or as a starting point for negotiation
• when there are conditions to your offer that must be satisfied before employment starts or the employment contract is signed
• only for employees based in England, Wales or Scotland

This job offer letter covers:

• basic information about the job and terms of employment including pay and benefits, hours, holiday, notice period and any obligations after employment ends
• the role offered
• the requirement to enter into an employment contract
• the conditions to the offer and what happens if they are not satisfied

You need a job offer letter when you want to employ someone new or when you want to make a formal offer before you're ready to sign an Employment contract. This will ensure that both sides understand the main terms of the prospective employment.

If an unconditional job offer is accepted then the contract becomes legally binding. However, if the offer is conditional (eg once references are provided and checked then the job offer can still be rescinded if the person does not meet the employer’s conditions).

In this letter, you can choose to offer employment upon conditions that need to be satisfied before employment starts such as:

• providing references
• holding a specific qualification
• having their qualifications verified
• completing a medical questionnaire, or
• simply upon signing this letter.

Yes, this letter sets out only the basic terms of employment and could lead to the negotiation of employment with your prospective employee. Normally, an employer will leave sufficient time for sending the employment contract separately once the employee satisfies the condition/s of the offer or upon signature. However, if there are no conditions to satisfy or these have already been satisfied an employer may send both together.

In this document, you can choose to give a deadline for the prospective employee to accept the offer. Once the deadline passes, the offer is no longer valid. 

Ask a lawyer for:

• employees based outside England, Wales or Scotland