A job offer letter is the short, signed letter an employer sends to the person they want to hire, setting out the role, pay, start date and any conditions attached to the offer. Small businesses use it for almost every hire, and the candidate signs it to accept. This offer letter template is free to download in Word or PDF and is written so both sides can read it without a lawyer translating.
When do you need a job offer letter?
You need one any time you’ve made a verbal offer and want the details written down before the person resigns from their current job or turns down other offers. It protects both of you from the “I thought you said $62,000” conversation three months in.
Say you run a hypothetical six-person dental billing office and you’ve just agreed with a candidate on a start date and salary over the phone. The offer letter is where that becomes real: title, pay, schedule, who they report to, and what has to happen before day one.
An offer letter is usually not the right place for detailed terms like a fixed contract length, severance, or ownership of work product. If you need those, use our employment contract template instead, or alongside it. If the person will be running their own business and billing you, they probably aren’t an employee at all, and the independent contractor agreement template is the closer fit (read the classification section on that page first, though).
What should an offer letter include?
Our template follows the offer letter format most employers use, in this order.
Position and start date. Job title, who the person reports to, work location (on-site, remote or hybrid) and the proposed first day.
Pay and schedule. Salary or hourly rate, how often you pay, and whether the role is full-time or part-time. There’s a checkbox for exempt or non-exempt, which matters for overtime. If you’re not sure which one applies, check before you tick it rather than guessing.
Benefits. A short summary with a pointer to the plan documents. Keep it short on purpose: plan documents change, and you don’t want the offer letter to become a second, conflicting version of your health plan.
Contingencies. This is where the offer depends on things like a background check, reference checks, a drug test where lawful, proof of eligibility to work in the US, or signing a confidentiality agreement. Only tick the ones you really use.
At-will employment. A plain statement that either side can end the employment at any time, plus a line saying the letter isn’t a contract for any fixed period. More on why this varies by state below.
Acceptance. A deadline to accept and the candidate’s signature line.
Background checks go on a separate form
If you use a screening company to run a background check, the FTC and EEOC guidance says you must tell the applicant in writing, in a stand-alone format, that you might use the information for employment decisions, and get their written permission. So the offer letter can say the offer depends on a satisfactory check, but the disclosure and consent belong on their own page. Don’t tuck them into this letter.
Proof of work eligibility is its own process
The template mentions that the new hire will need to complete Form I-9. That form has its own federal rules, including specific standards if it’s signed electronically (they’re in 8 CFR 274a.2). Don’t try to fold it into the offer letter. Under the same regulation, the new hire completes Section 1 at the time of hire, which means no later than the first day of work, and the employer reviews their documents within three business days of the hire. Use the official form.
Does at-will language work in every state?
Not in the same way. At-will employment means there’s no set period of employment and either side can end it, but states recognize exceptions. The Legal Information Institute’s summary notes that employer statements and handbook language about termination procedures can create an implied contract. Montana goes further: its wrongful discharge statute treats a discharge as wrongful if it wasn’t for good cause and the employee had completed the employer’s probationary period.
So the at-will paragraph in this template is a starting point. If you hire in Montana, or you’re making promises in the letter about job security, get that paragraph checked.
How do you fill in an offer letter and get it signed?
- Fill in every bracketed blank. Delete the contingency boxes you don’t use rather than leaving them unticked and confusing.
- Read the pay and exempt/non-exempt lines twice. That’s where mistakes get expensive.
- Sign it as the employer first, so the candidate knows the offer is real and approved.
- Send it to the candidate with a clear acceptance deadline.
- Once they sign, keep the fully signed copy in their personnel file and send them a copy too.
E-signing works fine for this. The federal ESIGN Act says a signature or contract can’t be denied legal effect just because it’s electronic, and our guide on whether electronic signatures are legally binding covers the details. Honestly, for a single hire, even a signed PDF sent back by email is usually enough. For more than a few hires a year, a signing tool that records who signed and when saves you digging through inboxes later. Download it, fill in the blanks, and send it for e-signature with any tool you like. (SignWren, the tool we’re building, is meant for exactly this job, and the waitlist is open.)
This page is general information, not legal advice. For a specific hire or dispute, talk to an employment lawyer licensed where you are.