Employment Offer Letter Template
An employment offer letter confirms the role, compensation, and key terms you're extending to a new hire. The full letter is printed on this page — role, pay, benefits, contingencies, and the acceptance block — and you can download it as a .docx or open it as an editable CalmSign document. Your candidate accepts from a link with no account, and the signed letter is sealed and logged for your records.
Free · no signup to download · no account needed for signers
A good fit when…
- Founders and hiring managers extending offers to new hires
- HR and people teams standardizing how offers go out
- Small companies that want a professional offer without enterprise software
- Anyone who needs a candidate to formally accept in writing
Every clause in the file
- Dated letter opening addressed to the candidate by name
- Position, reporting line, and a short description of the role
- Start date, work location, and working pattern
- Base salary, pay frequency, and the first review point
- Variable pay: bonus, commission, or neither
- Equity grant paragraph with vesting, or a line to delete if there is none
- Benefits and paid time off summary
- Contingencies: right to work, references, and background check
- Confidentiality and intellectual property assignment as a condition of employment
- At-will or notice-period wording, whichever applies in your jurisdiction
- Policies, entire-agreement wording, and an offer expiry date
- Acceptance signature blocks (draw or type) for candidate and company
Read the whole Employment Offer Letter
The complete text is below — nothing withheld, nothing behind a signup. Copy it, download the .docx, or open it as an editable CalmSign document and send it for signature.
Employment Offer Letter
[Company Legal Name] · [Company Address] · [Date]
Dear [Candidate Name],
We are delighted to offer you the position of [Job Title] at [Company Legal Name] (the "Company"). This letter sets out the principal terms of the offer. Please read it in full, and if you are happy to accept, sign at the end and return it by [Offer Expiry Date].
1. Position and Reporting
You will be employed as [Job Title], reporting to [Manager Name, Title]. Your duties will include [summarise the core responsibilities in one or two sentences]. The Company may reasonably adjust your duties from time to time to suit the needs of the business.
2. Start Date
Your employment is expected to begin on [Start Date], subject to the contingencies in clause 8. If you need a different date, tell us before you sign and we will confirm the change in writing.
3. Location and Working Pattern
Your primary work location will be [office address / remote from [location] / hybrid, with [number] days per week at [office address]]. Your standard working pattern is [hours] hours per week, normally [days and hours], with the flexibility the role reasonably requires.
4. Base Salary
Your annual base salary will be $[amount], paid [semi-monthly / monthly] in arrears by direct deposit, less applicable taxes and withholdings. Your salary will next be reviewed in [month, year], and a review does not guarantee an increase.
5. Variable Compensation
[Select one: You will be eligible for a discretionary annual bonus with a target of [percentage]% of base salary, based on Company and individual performance, payable in [month] and subject to your being employed and not under notice on the payment date. / You will be eligible for commission under the plan attached as Schedule A. / This role does not carry variable compensation.]
6. Equity
[Delete this clause if no equity is offered.] Subject to approval by the Board, you will be granted [number] [stock options / restricted stock units] under the Company [Plan Name], vesting over [4] years with a [1] year cliff, at an exercise price set by the Board on the grant date. The grant is governed entirely by the plan documents and your individual grant agreement.
7. Benefits and Time Off
You will be eligible for the Company benefits programme, currently including [health, dental, and vision coverage], [retirement or pension contribution of [percentage]%], and [other benefits]. You will accrue [number] days of paid time off per year in addition to public holidays, plus [sick leave and parental leave in line with Company policy]. Benefits may change from time to time and are governed by the relevant plan documents.
8. Contingencies
This offer is contingent on: (a) your proof of eligibility to work in [country]; (b) satisfactory references; (c) [a satisfactory background check where permitted by law]; and (d) your signing the agreement referred to in clause 9. If any contingency is not met, the Company may withdraw this offer.
9. Confidentiality and Intellectual Property
As a condition of employment you will be asked to sign the Company Confidentiality and Intellectual Property Assignment Agreement, a copy of which is enclosed. In broad terms it requires you to keep Company information confidential and assigns to the Company the intellectual property you create in the course of your employment.
10. Employment Status
[For at-will jurisdictions: Your employment with the Company is at will. Either you or the Company may end it at any time, with or without cause or notice, and nothing in this letter creates a contract of employment for any fixed period. / For all other jurisdictions: After a probation period of [3] months, either party may end the employment by giving [notice period] written notice. During probation, the notice period is [notice period].]
11. Company Policies
Your employment will be subject to the Company policies and handbook as updated from time to time, including its codes of conduct, health and safety, and data protection policies. Where a policy conflicts with this letter, this letter governs unless the policy is required by law.
12. Entire Agreement
This letter, together with the agreement referred to in clause 9, sets out the entire offer and supersedes any earlier discussion, presentation, or correspondence about the role and its terms. Any change must be agreed in writing by an authorised representative of the Company.
13. Acceptance
We are excited about what you will bring to the team. To accept, sign below on or before [Offer Expiry Date]. If you have questions before then, contact [Hiring Contact Name] at [Hiring Contact Email].
Every block is editable before you send. Replace each [bracketed placeholder] with your own details.
What each clause does
Plain-English notes on the clauses worth a second look before you send, and on what to change when your situation differs from the default.
Position and start date
Write the title the person will actually use, internally and externally. A title that differs from the one discussed in the final interview is the most common reason an otherwise accepted offer comes back with questions.
Compensation
State the annual figure and the pay frequency together. A monthly or semi-monthly number on its own gets misread surprisingly often, and it is an unpleasant conversation to have in week one.
Equity
If you grant equity, the letter should say the number of units, the vesting schedule, and that the grant is subject to board approval and the plan documents. If you do not, delete the paragraph rather than leaving a vague promise.
Contingencies
Anything the offer genuinely depends on has to appear here. A background check you run after the letter goes out, with no contingency written down, is very hard to act on if it comes back badly.
Confidentiality and IP assignment
Attach the actual agreement rather than referring to it. Signing it as a condition of the offer, before the start date, avoids the awkward position of asking someone to assign their work after they have already begun.
At-will or notice period
This paragraph is jurisdiction-specific. At-will language suits most of the United States; almost everywhere else you need a notice period on each side and a probation period instead. Use one, delete the other.
Offer expiry
A response date keeps the process moving without pressure. Give a real window, usually five to seven days, and be willing to extend it if the candidate asks for a reason you would accept.
Common questions
Does the candidate need to create an account to accept?
No. They open the signing link, review the offer, and sign in the browser with no signup required.
Can the company countersign after the candidate?
Yes. CalmSign supports multiple signers with a signing order, so you can have the candidate sign first and a company representative countersign.
Can I personalize the role, salary, and start date?
Yes. Every field is an editable block, so you can adjust the title, compensation, dates, and any custom terms before sending.
How do we keep a trustworthy copy of the accepted offer?
On completion the owner is emailed a copy and the candidate can download theirs. The finalized letter is sealed with a SHA-256 hash and backed by a timestamped audit trail.
Is an offer letter the same as an employment contract?
Not quite. An offer letter confirms the headline terms and asks the candidate to accept them. In many jurisdictions a signed offer letter is itself binding on those terms, and a longer employment contract or handbook then fills in the detail.
Should the offer letter include at-will language?
Only where at-will employment exists, which in practice means most of the United States. Elsewhere, replace that paragraph with the notice period each side must give and any probation period, both of which this template leaves bracketed for you.
Browse the full template library, or see how CalmSign compares with DocuSign.
Use this offer letter template free
5 documents a month on the free plan. No credit card required.
Create free account