Job Offer Letter Template

Offer letter with key-terms table, notice or at-will wording, conditions, acceptance, employer checklist with dated UK, EU and US pointers

HR & PersonalwesenStandardCommon practice; UK written statement rules, Directives (EU) 2019/1152 and 2023/970, US Form I-9offer letterAktualisiert 29.10.2026

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Anleitung: Use it when you make a written job offer. Fill the key-terms table from the approved requisition first, then choose notice or at-will wording for the place of work. The main pitfall is a letter whose figures or status differ from the contract and payroll.

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Offer Letter: [Job title] at [Organisation name]

A written job offer that sets out the role, pay, start date, working pattern, conditions of the offer and the next steps, plus an employer checklist for jurisdiction-specific terms (at-will or notice wording, right-to-work checks, day-one written particulars, pay transparency). Based on common employment practice with dated UK, EU and US examples checked in October 2026. Replace every [bracketed] value and every line marked Example. This is a documentation format, not legal advice: an offer letter can form part of the employment contract, so check the current official rules and ask a qualified employment adviser before you send it.

Document control

Field	Value
Offer ID	[OFF-2026-031]
Requisition ID	[REQ-NNN]
Status	[Draft / Approved / Sent / Accepted / Declined / Withdrawn]
Hiring manager	[@name]
Approvers	[People team, finance, budget holder]
Country and state of work	[Country, state or region]
Sent on	YYYY-MM-DD
Accept by	YYYY-MM-DD

Revision history

Version	Date	Author	Change
0.1 (Example)	2026-10-29	[@recruiter]	Draft from approved requisition
1.0 (Example)	2026-11-02	[@people-partner]	Approved and sent

Part A: The letter

[Organisation name] [Address]

[Date: YYYY-MM-DD]

[Candidate name] [Address or email]

Private and confidential

Dear [Candidate name],

1. The offer

We are delighted to offer you the position of [job title] in our [team or department], reporting to [manager name and title]. This offer follows your interviews on [dates] and is subject to the conditions in section 6.

2. Key terms

Term	Detail
Job title	[Job title]
Employment type	[Permanent / fixed-term until YYYY-MM-DD], [full-time / part-time]
Start date	YYYY-MM-DD
Place of work	[Office address / remote from country / hybrid, N days on site]
Working hours	[N hours per week, normal days and times, overtime terms]
Base salary	[Currency amount] per [year / hour], paid [monthly / biweekly]
Pay band for the role	[Minimum to maximum]
Variable pay	[Bonus or commission plan, target, conditions; or "None"]
Equity	[Type, number, vesting schedule, subject to plan rules; or "None"]
Holiday	[N days per year, plus public holidays / policy name]
Benefits	[Pension or retirement plan, health cover, other]
Probation	[Length and terms; or "None"]
Notice or at-will terms	[See section 5]

3. Your role

[Two or three sentences on the purpose of the role and its main responsibilities. Link or attach the job description.]

4. Pay and benefits detail

[Explain how pay is reviewed, when the first review happens, how any bonus is decided and which plan documents govern benefits and equity.]

5. Notice or at-will employment

Choose the wording that fits the place of work and remove the other:

Notice-based (for example UK or EU): "After any probation period, either party may end the employment by giving [N weeks or months] of written notice, or the statutory minimum if that is longer."
At-will (many US states): "Your employment is at will, which means that you or [Organisation name] may end it at any time, with or without cause or notice. Nothing in this letter is a promise of employment for a specific period."

6. Conditions of this offer

This offer is conditional on:

proof of your right to work in [country], checked before your start date
[satisfactory references from N referees]
[a background or criminal record check, where lawful and relevant to the role]
[professional qualification or licence verification]
signing the [employment contract, confidentiality and intellectual property agreement]

We will tell you in writing when each condition is met. If a condition is not met, we may withdraw the offer.

7. Before you start

[Organisation name] will send you [the contract, the employee handbook, forms for payroll and tax, and your first-week plan]. Your manager or an onboarding buddy will contact you before your first day.

8. Accepting the offer

Please confirm acceptance by signing below or replying in writing by [YYYY-MM-DD]. If you have questions, contact [name, email, phone].

9. Status of this letter

[This letter and the enclosed contract form your terms of employment. / This letter summarises the main terms; your employment contract, sent separately, contains the full terms and prevails if they differ.]

We look forward to working with you.

Yours sincerely,

[Name] [Title], [Organisation name]

Acceptance: I accept this offer on the terms set out above.

Signed: ____________________ Name: [Candidate name] Date: YYYY-MM-DD

Example (fictional): Quillfen Devices Ltd offers Priya Hallworth the role of Firmware Engineer in Leeds, UK, on 2026-11-02, with a base salary of GBP 52,000 a year (band GBP 48,000 to 56,000), a start date of Monday 2027-01-04, a six-month probation period and one month's notice after probation. The offer is conditional on a right-to-work check and two references, and she is asked to accept by Monday 2026-11-09.

Part B: Employer checklist before sending

Terms and fairness

Do pay, title and band match the approved requisition and the published job advert?
Is the pay decision based on objective, gender-neutral criteria, and did anyone ask the candidate about pay history where that is not allowed?
Are bonus, commission and equity described as governed by their plan rules, with no promise the plans do not make?
Are restrictive covenants (non-compete, non-solicitation) lawful where the person will work, and reviewed by an adviser?
Have any reasonable adjustments discussed during hiring been recorded for onboarding?

Dated jurisdiction pointers (October 2026)

Jurisdiction	What to check	Official source
UK	A written statement of the main terms (the "principal statement": pay, hours, holiday, place of work, probation, training and more) must be given on or before the first day; other particulars, including pensions and disciplinary and grievance rules, within two months.	https://www.gov.uk/employment-contracts-and-conditions/written-statement-of-employment-particulars
UK	Check right to work before employment starts.	https://www.gov.uk/check-job-applicant-right-to-work
EU	Directive (EU) 2019/1152 on transparent and predictable working conditions sets the information employers must give in writing at the start of employment, with short deadlines for the essential items, and limits probation to six months in most cases. Check the national law that transposes it.	https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2019/1152/oj/eng
EU	Directive (EU) 2023/970 on pay transparency (transposition deadline 7 June 2026): applicants have a right to information on the initial pay or its range, and employers may not ask about pay history (Article 5). Check national transposition.	https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2023/970/oj/eng
US	Form I-9: the employee completes Section 1 no later than the first day of employment (only after accepting the offer), and the employer completes Section 2 within three business days of the start.	https://www.uscis.gov/i-9
US	At-will employment is the default in most states, with state exceptions; check state law on pay transparency, final pay and non-competes.	[State labour department]

Sending and records

Sent from an official account, with the contract and plan documents attached or linked.
Offer and acceptance stored in the personnel file.
Unsuccessful candidates told, and their data kept only for the period stated in the privacy notice.

Standard and licence note

Based on common employment practice for offer letters, with dated examples from GOV.UK (written statement of employment particulars, right to work checks), USCIS (Form I-9 and the M-274 handbook), Directive (EU) 2019/1152 and Directive (EU) 2023/970, checked on 2026-10-30. Original text written for this collection; people and organisations are fictional. Not legal advice: check the current official text and a qualified professional. Template licence: MIT.