Job Offer Letters

When it comes to hiring a successful job candidate, you’ll need to send the individual confirmation of their success. 

You can do this in the form of a letter.

Employment confirmation letters can serve distinct and important purposes.

For example, an employee may need a confirmation of employment letter for their bank. Applications for this range from opening a new account to applying for a loan.

But once you’ve found your perfect candidate, what’s the best way to outline your employment terms? And what would an employee expect from a letter from an employer confirming their employment?

Along with an employment confirmation letter template, Peninsula provides useful insight on all employment documentation. Below is a great way of letting the candidate know that the job application was successful and tell them about the good news.

What is a provisional offer letter?

It’s a formal written document you send to a job candidate. It indicates you’re making an offer to them for employment provided they meet certain conditions. The conditions are typically reference checks or Garda vetting—you can follow it up with a call to confirm the details with your new employee.

A job offer letter from the employer to an employee may include details such as:

• Their start date
• The duties they’ll undertake
• Who they’ll report to
• Annual wage and starting salary
• Any other perks you’re offering

You can also use offer letters as a way to comply with one of your key legal obligations as an employer. The offer letter can provide the employee with the five core terms of employment under the Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2018.

You must provide these five core terms to the employee no later than five days of commencing employment.

If the candidate returns a signed offer letter, then the principles of contract law apply. An accepted offer shows that both parties intend to enter into legal relations.

This makes a legally binding contract of employment.

You can also send the candidate an email confirming their success during the interview stage.

If you have hired an employee on a conditional or fixed-term contract, you should provide them with the relevant details in the offer letter. These letters confirm the details of an offer, be it a fixed-term contract or full-time employment.

Conditional and unconditional offers

You must remember you have to confirm the nature of your job offer. There are two types:

• Conditional: This means a candidate must meet certain conditions before they accept the role. This may mean having to pass a physical or medical test, for example.
• Unconditional: When a candidate accepts your offer, a contract of employment exists between you and them.

You can state what type of offer you’re making in the communications you send out to your potential new employee.

Example of confirmation of employment letter

In your correspondence with your candidate, you’ll need to confirm some key terms for your proposed employment. It’s good business practice to have the same template available that you can adapt as and when you need to.

Be sure to keep an employment confirmation letter template doc with your human resources team. This can streamline the job offer process with future candidates.

Opening email offer

You can also double up on your opening contact by sending an offer letter email to the candidate.

Occasionally, a new hire might ask you for confirmation of employment. In these circumstances, you could write an employment verification. This will simply confirm that they are an employee of your company.

Your opening offer email can look like the following letter sample:

Dear [successful candidate’s name],

I’m pleased to inform you that your recent interview was successful and we wish to extend an offer of employment to you on behalf of [your company name].

We’ve selected you as the right candidate for this role of [job position].

You’ll shortly receive a letter detailing the offer for this role. You must respond to this by [date] with a written acceptance response.

Yours sincerely,

[Manager’s name]

Negotiating your deal

The employee’s current business may, of course, make a counter-offer and it’s not uncommon to offer a letter of negotiation to begin.

This will aim to keep the employee in their business and will typically involve the offer of a higher wage or more perks.

This may begin a process of sparring to claim the employee’s services. You may have to prepare to offer a better package if you’re keen to secure the individual’s services.

Need our help?

If you would like further complimentary advice on offer letters from an expert, our advisors are ready to take your call any time day or night. Call us on 0818 923 923.