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Making job offers

Overview
Williams, Audrey - Fox Williams LLP
Overview
Once a suitable candidate has been identified for a post, an employer will wish to make an offer of employment. Before doing so, however, employers should give careful consideration to the type of the offer that they wish to make.
 
This will require some detailed consideration of the terms and conditions of employment they intend to offer. The employer should also take care to establish that those terms do not discriminate, either directly or indirectly.
 
Where employers wish to verify information about a candidate before confirming an offer of employment, they should consider the nature of the information they wish to check and the relevance it has in terms of the job that is to be filled. Any checks to verify information should not go beyond what is necessary for the job. In such circumstances, the offer is conditional on the completion of these checks, and this must be made clear in the offer letter.

Key points

  • Job offers should be made in writing to help avoid any misunderstandings about the terms and conditions offered
  • Care must be taken when discussing the role with the candidate not to indicate terms which are inconsistent or differ from the written offer (verbal terms can be binding and equate to contractual promises)
  • Conditional offers should be made where the employer needs to verify information about the employee before confirming employment
  • Any checks to verify information must be transparent and made with the consent of the employee
  • Where a clear conditional offer is made and the condition is not met, the employer will generally be entitled to withdraw the offer
  • Employers must not discriminate in the terms offered to employees.