Offer letter

Federal base for an offer of at-will employment, with the state questions you have to answer before you send it

An offer letter is the first document in the file and it is read again at the end, usually by someone looking for a promise the employer did not intend to make. This base states the terms plainly, keeps the background-check disclosure out of the letter where federal law requires it to be separate, and carries the notices that a confidentiality obligation triggers. Bracketed items are your choices. The state notes are not optional reading: several states require a separate wage notice at hire, and a growing number require a pay range in the offer or the posting.

Before you send this

• Pay range and salary history. Several states and cities require a pay range to be disclosed, and many prohibit asking about salary history. Check the rules for the state and city where the work is performed, not where your company is based.
• Wage notice at hire. Some states require a separate written wage notice at the time of hiring, on a prescribed form, in the employee's primary language. New York is the strictest example. An offer letter does not satisfy that requirement on its own.
• Background checks. If you will obtain a consumer report, federal law requires the disclosure to be in a standalone document. Do not add it to this letter.
• Non-competes. Enforceability varies sharply by state, several states ban them outright for employees below a salary threshold, and the federal position has shifted. Do not include one here without advice for your state.
• Remove what does not apply. A section you leave in because it was in the template is a term you have agreed to.

[Company letterhead]

[Date]

[Candidate name] [Address]

Dear [Candidate first name],

We are pleased to offer you the position of [job title] at [Company legal name] ("the Company"). This letter sets out the terms of that offer.

1. Position and reporting

Your title will be [job title], reporting to [manager title]. Your primary work location will be [location / remote from [state]]. The essential functions of the position are described in the attached job description. We may change duties, reporting lines, and location as the business requires.

2. Start date

Your first day will be [date], or another date we agree in writing. This offer expires if it is not accepted by [date].

3. Pay and classification

[Choose one.]

• Exempt: Your annual base salary will be $[amount], paid [semi-monthly / bi-weekly] in accordance with the Company's payroll practices and subject to applicable withholdings. This position is classified as exempt from the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act under the [executive / administrative / learned professional / computer employee / outside sales] exemption, based on its primary duties, which include [describe the primary duty in concrete terms, for example "managing the accounts payable function and supervising two staff" or "advising management on benefits design and exercising discretion over plan selection"]. A job title alone does not establish an exemption. Classification is reviewed periodically and may change if the duties of the position change.
• Non-exempt: Your rate of pay will be $[amount] per hour, paid [semi-monthly / bi-weekly] in accordance with the Company's payroll practices and subject to applicable withholdings. This position is classified as non-exempt, which means you are eligible for overtime pay at one and one-half times your regular rate for hours worked over forty in a workweek, and over any daily threshold your state sets. You must record all time worked, including time worked remotely and outside scheduled hours, and you should not perform work off the clock.

[If a bonus or commission applies: You will be eligible to participate in the [plan name] on the terms of that plan, a copy of which is attached. Eligibility for a bonus is not a promise of payment, and the plan governs if this letter and the plan differ.]

4. Benefits and paid time off

You will be eligible for the benefits the Company offers employees in your classification, on the terms of the applicable plan documents, which govern in all cases. The Company may change or end any benefit at any time. [Describe paid time off, or refer to the handbook policy and attach it.]

5. At-will employment

Your employment with the Company is at will. That means either you or the Company may end the employment relationship at any time, with or without cause and with or without notice. Nothing in this letter, in the employee handbook, or in any statement by a Company representative creates a contract of employment for any fixed period or limits the at-will relationship. Only a written agreement signed by [officer title] can change this, and only if it says so expressly.

6. Conditions of the offer

• Work authorization. This offer is contingent on your completing Form I-9 and providing documentation establishing your identity and authorization to work in the United States within the time federal law allows. You may present any document or combination of documents from the Lists of Acceptable Documents that you choose; the Company does not require any particular document and does not require more or different documents than the law allows.
• [Background check. This offer is conditioned on the satisfactory completion of a background check. You will receive a separate disclosure and authorization form regarding the background check, as required by the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Please review and sign that form separately. Do not include the disclosure in this letter.]
• [Other conditions: reference checks, a required license or certification, or a signed confidentiality agreement.]

7. Confidentiality and inventions

As a condition of employment you will be asked to sign the Company's Confidentiality and Invention Assignment Agreement, a copy of which is attached. In addition, and regardless of that agreement:

• Confidential information does not include information about wages, hours, or other terms and conditions of employment. Nothing in this letter or in any Company agreement prohibits you from discussing your pay or working conditions with coworkers, a labor organization, or a government agency.
• Nothing in this letter prohibits or restricts you from reporting possible violations of law to, communicating with, filing a charge or complaint with, or participating in any investigation or proceeding conducted by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or any other federal, state, or local government agency, without notice to or consent from the Company, or from receiving an award from a government-administered whistleblower program.
• Notice of immunity under the Defend Trade Secrets Act. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1833(b), an individual is immune from criminal or civil liability under federal or state trade secret law for disclosing a trade secret (a) in confidence to a government official, directly or indirectly, or to an attorney, solely for the purpose of reporting or investigating a suspected violation of law, or (b) in a complaint or other document filed in a lawsuit or other proceeding, if the filing is made under seal. An individual who sues an employer for retaliation for reporting a suspected violation of law may disclose the trade secret to that individual's attorney and use the trade secret information in the court proceeding, if the individual files any document containing the trade secret under seal and does not disclose the trade secret except pursuant to court order.

8. Other terms

• You confirm that accepting this position does not breach any agreement with a current or former employer, and that you will not bring to the Company or use any confidential information belonging to anyone else.
• Nothing in this letter is intended to, or will be applied to, interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in the exercise of rights under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act, including the right to discuss wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment with coworkers or others, and the right to engage in concerted activity for mutual aid or protection.
• This letter is the entire offer and replaces any earlier discussion or document about the terms of employment.

9. Accepting the offer

If these terms are acceptable, please sign below and return a copy by [date]. We are looking forward to working with you.

Sincerely, [Name] [Title] [Company legal name]

Accepted:

Candidate signature: ______________________________

Printed name: ______________________________

Date: ______________________________

Template provided by DefensibleHR LLC. It is a drafting starting point, not a finished document, and it is not legal advice. It covers federal provisions only; state and local law changes several terms above. Have a qualified employment attorney adapt it for your state before you use it.