Every HR out there double checks an offer letter before sending it. But there are some major mistakes that most of you still include in your offer letter format.
An offer letter is altogether the first impression of your company. And of course, as the famous quote says “the first impression is the last impression!”
Take a look at some of the serious mistakes you must avoid while writing an offer letter:
- Date & Time
Joining date and time are the two important factors a new employee will check first. Plus, it is mostly seen that a new employee shows up early than the given time.
Apart from writing the correct time and date (which is extremely important), you also need to ensure some other aspects as well. One of which is you should always include a statement informing that the joining date & time can be pushed back under some inevitable circumstances. In simpler words, you have to play safe.
This will help you to avoid creating a bad impression if anything happens on his/her joining date or time.
- Job Responsibilities & Duties
After knowing about the joining date and time, your new employee is going to quickly search for his job title and responsibilities.
Every employee carries all the rights to have clarity about his position and responsibilities.
Make sure that both the job position & duties are outlined as well as clearly explained in the offer letter.
This is also important because if in the near future the responsibilities of that employee changes, he/she will have in a written form what exactly they did in the past.
- Base Salary
Salary discussion is a crucial part of an interview, however, your duty is to ensure that the final decision matches up on the offer letter, too.
Of course, a new employee will check whether the salary mentioned in the offer letter is the same discussed in the interview. And if it is not, he/she will contact the head, complain about the error and more negotiation- “Total Mess”.
Mentioning a wrong salary will not only make your new employee feel undervalued but also terribly affect your company’s reputation! Hence, always verify before writing the base salary in the offer letter.
Along with the correct salary, make sure you include bonuses (if there are any) in the offer letter as well.
- Benefit
What are the benefits offered by your company- parental leave? free lunches? or medical insurance?
This is the most prevalent offer letter format mistake. We are not asking you to write each and every benefit offered by your company. But you should mention those additional things that you have discussed & promised them in the interview like an extra vacation, bonuses, free cell phone or company car.
This will give a positive outlook on your company agreements.
- Arbitration Clause
You should always try to clearly state certain clauses that your company religiously follows.
The arbitration clause is one of the tricky services to look out for. This clause basically mentions that if any dispute arises between an employee & an employer, then it must be resolved by a third party who will be completely neutral, that is, no lawsuit.
Do you know why there is a need to mention these clauses in the offer letter? It is because from the very beginning your employee will get a clear picture of your company and its operations.
Stating all these in the offer letter will also remain as written proof. In addition to this, employers will never try to ignore the clauses as well as avoid causing any issue in the company.
This is an effective way to protect your company by ensuring every employee is aware of all the clauses.
So, there you go!!!
Next time you write an offer letter, pay a little more attention to the offer letter format and remember all the above-mentioned points. Keep a tab on our next blog about appointment letter format mistakes.