A job offer letter (sometimes called an employment offer letter) is exactly what it sounds like — a document addressed to an individual, formally offering them a job.

But there’s a good reason why employers need to take extra care when writing them.

Once a job offer is formally accepted by a candidate (usually in writing), the job offer letter itself forms part of a legally binding agreement between a business or organisation and their soon-to-be employee. For this reason, it’s vital that any job offer letters or emails you write are clear, unambiguous, and include all the relevant information.

It’s also worth mentioning that verbal job offers can be binding in the exact same way. There’s currently no legal requirement for employers to provide a formal job offer letter, but best practice is to follow up any verbal job offers you make with a written one so that the details can’t be contested by either party afterwards.

There’s no set criteria for the things that must be included in a formal employment offer letter, and yours may vary depending on the nature of your business.

Even so, the following is a good place to start:

• The name of your business

• The position/job title being offered

• The type of employment (full/part time; hybrid working etc)

• The employee’s responsibilities

• The salary per annum or per hour (before tax)

• Any bonuses and when these are paid

• The number of days’ annual leave

• Work schedule and employment type

• A mention of any conditions and probationary periods

• A deadline for responding to the offer

Don’t worry — we’ve included most of these in our free job offer letter template, which is easy to edit. Use the download button at the top of this page to access this sample letter in docx format, which is compatible with Microsoft Word and Pages for Mac.

You might also choose to include additional details in your letter such as the number of sick days you offer, how part-time workers accrue leave, and any employee benefits your company offers, but these more commonly appear in employment contracts than in employment offer letters themselves.