Bridge HR articles

The offer letter you present to a potential employee can form part of your organisation's contractual obligations and requirements. What you put in an offer letter is, therefore, crucial.

What is the status of your offer?

Any offer can be contractual but, ideally, we draft it, so it is NOT contractual at this stage (unless that is your intention).

Instead, our Employment Law Solicitors typically stipulate that the offer is subject to an employment contract which is presented to the employee later. We then help engineer the pre-conditions that the employee must satisfy prior to the contract becoming binding, thus, giving you ‘wiggle room’ to to withdraw or vary if the candidate is not what they seem.

When you don’t do that, you can be contractually bound and liable before you are actually meant to be.

Let’s focus on ‘conditions’

Now we are into the nub of it, the important stuff, this is why offer letters are so useful, because the offer of employment is conditional on these “things”.

These “things” can be whatever you want them to be (within reason), to ensure that the applicant is fit for the role that they are being offered and lawfully able to undertake it, too.

Some (there are many!) you may wish to think about are:

1. Satisfactory references (and how many and from whom).
2. Warranties on freedom to work in the UK.
3. Confirmation that the applicant holds particular qualifications necessary for the role.
4. A warranty that the applicant is not going to be in breach of any post-termination restrictive covenants with their current (possibly soon to be former) employer and that they have not used/brought any commercially confidential information (if they have, you could be liable).
5. Time limits on acceptance or withdrawal.
6. A no contract until all terms are satisfied term too – avoiding claims of loss if you withdraw.

It probably goes without saying, but we will say it anyway; if they have not satisfied the conditions you set, you should not allow them to commence work. To do so may lapse your conditions and create a binding employment contract.

There really is much more to the offer letter in law and it can be very advantageous to have Employment Law Solicitors, such as ourselves here at Bridge, to prepare a useful template for you.

Giving a limited-time offer

Time and again we see issues where employers come to us because they have left an offer open for acceptance.

The applicant does not confirm and so they move on, they select a new candidate and, at the point they are making the offer to the second applicant, the first one comes back and accepts.

It’s a nightmare but easily avoidable if you state a timescale on the offer letter for acceptance and withdrawal.

Withdrawing an offer – notice terms in the contract

You may decide to withdraw an offer.

The mechanics of how to do so are regulated, in large part, by contract law and depend on whether the applicant has accepted the offer.

If they have not accepted the offer, then you can withdraw the offer. However, be prepared for the applicant to be unhappy about this.

If the applicant has accepted the offer, then, assuming they have satisfied the conditions (that you set) then, (depending on how the contract and offer letter drafting work) you may need to provide the notice set out in the employment contract.

Again, we Employment Law Solicitors can help by building provisions in the contract that allow short termination, even if all offer conditions are adhered to – if that is not done properly, employers can be liable for a full notice pay in some cases.

we’re here to help

Whether you have an issue now or you are future-proofing your organisation's recruitment process, the highly experienced solicitors here at Bridge are happy to review, consider and advise on your recruitment processes, including your offer letters.  We invite you for a free, initial chat to discuss your needs. Contact the Bridge Employment Law team by calling 01904 94900o or emailing enquires@bridgeehr.co.uk.