Employment offer letter

An offer letter that is accepted forms a contract, even if nobody has signed the terms yet. So the conditions have to be in the letter before it goes out, not added once something comes back. Withdrawing an accepted offer is a breach of contract, and the candidate's remedy is usually notice pay, which is modest. The larger exposure is a discrimination claim, where there is no qualifying period and no cap on compensation, and offers are most often withdrawn after something has been learned about the candidate.

Make it conditional in the letter itself

State the conditions, as this template does, so that a failure means the offer lapses rather than being withdrawn. The usual ones are satisfactory references, proof of the right to work, and where the role requires it a DBS check or professional registration. Conditions have to be real and applied consistently, because one used selectively becomes evidence in a claim.

The right to work check is the one with a statutory consequence. It has to be carried out before work starts, through the Home Office online service or on original documents, with a dated copy kept. Done properly it gives a statutory excuse against a civil penalty. Carried out after the first day it does not.

Send the contract with the letter

The written statement of particulars under section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 is a day-one right for employees and for workers, and must be given no later than the first day of work. Sending the contract of employment alongside the offer delivers it in good time and keeps the two documents consistent. The letter should not restate the whole contract: two documents describing the same term in different words is how disputes begin.

One thing to leave out. Section 60 of the Equality Act 2010 prohibits asking about health or disability before an offer is made, with narrow exceptions, so a pre-employment questionnaire issued with the offer has to be limited to adjustments and occupational health.

The key terms table reflects the law as it now stands

Two points catch out employers copying an older letter. Statutory sick pay has been payable from the first day of absence since 6 April 2026, so wording about waiting days is wrong. Paternity leave became a day-one right on the same date, although statutory paternity pay still requires 26 weeks' continuous service, so a letter referring to a qualifying period for the leave itself is also wrong.

Probation

A probationary period does not change an employee's statutory rights, and its length and conditions have had to appear in the day-one written statement since April 2020. What it usually changes is contractual notice during the period, which is enforceable provided it is not less than the statutory minimum of one week once a month's service has passed. The Employment Rights Act 2025 is changing the dismissal rules in stages, so check the position for a role where probation is doing real work.

For a senior hire, a role carrying restrictive covenants, or one that needs a visa, the letter and the contract are worth preparing together. Our employment law and HR solicitors do both on a fixed monthly fee.