Offer letter generator.

What this offer letter generator makes

This tool writes a one-to-two-page employment offer letter as a PDF, entirely in your browser. You enter the company name and address, the candidate's name and address, the letter date, the position, department, start date, who the person reports to, base salary, any bonus or equity, benefits, and an acceptance deadline. Press Preview, check the result, and download.

The words "offer generator" and "offer maker" also attract people looking to make an offer on a house or a car. This tool is for employment offers only.

What the letter says

The generated letter has a fixed structure:

• Heading and date.
• A greeting, then one sentence: "On behalf of [company], we are pleased to offer you the position of [position] in our [department], reporting to [manager]."
• Start date.
• Compensation: "Base salary: [what you typed]." If you filled in the bonus box it adds "Variable / equity: [text]."
• Benefits, from the benefits box, which opens pre-filled with extended health, dental, vision, an RRSP match and four weeks' paid vacation. Edit this to match what you actually provide.
• Terms: employment is offered on a full-time basis, subject to your standard policies and applicable law, and is conditional on satisfactory completion of background checks and the candidate's legal entitlement to work in the jurisdiction of employment.
• Confidentiality and assignment: the candidate will be asked to sign your standard confidentiality and intellectual property assignment agreement before the start date.
• Acceptance: sign and return a copy by the deadline.
• Signature lines for the company and the candidate.

How to fill the boxes so the sentences read properly

The letter drops your text straight into fixed sentences, so the way you type matters.

• Department: the sentence reads "in our [department]", so type "Operations team" or "Finance group" rather than just "Operations".
• Base salary: the letter adds a full stop after your text, so write the whole figure and its basis, for example "$62,000 per year, paid bi-weekly" or "$32 per hour".
• Bonus or equity: describe the plan and point to the governing document, for example "Annual discretionary bonus of up to 10 percent of base salary, subject to the terms of the bonus plan".
• Blank boxes: if you leave the position, start date, salary or deadline empty, the letter says "the role discussed", "to be agreed" or "the date discussed". That looks unfinished, so fill them all in.

Worked example

Acme Ltd. hires a coordinator. Entering Position "Operations Coordinator", Department "Operations team", Reporting to "Director of Operations" and Base salary "$62,000 per year, paid bi-weekly" produces: "On behalf of Acme Ltd., we are pleased to offer you the position of Operations Coordinator in our Operations team, reporting to Director of Operations." followed by "Base salary: $62,000 per year, paid bi-weekly." Add a start date and a deadline a week or so out and the letter is complete.

Ontario points an offer letter should respect

Ontario's Employment Standards Act, 2000 sets minimums that a letter cannot waive. Section 5(1) says an employer and employee cannot contract out of or waive an employment standard, and any attempt is void. Four points come up often in offer letters.

• Termination. Under section 54 an employer cannot terminate someone employed for three months or more without written notice (or termination pay in place of notice). Under section 57 the notice period runs from one week for a short service up to eight weeks for eight years or more of service, and there are separate severance rules in the Act. Any termination clause you add to a letter must at least meet these minimums.
• Non-competes. Part XV.1 of the Act, section 67.2, prohibits an employer from entering into a non-compete agreement with an employee, and such an agreement is void. There are exceptions for the sale of a business and for executives, such as a chief executive officer or president. Do not add a non-compete clause to this letter without advice.
• Confidentiality is not a non-compete. The letter's confidentiality and invention-assignment line is a different thing from a ban on working for competitors.
• Equity and bonus terms belong in the plan documents. The letter gives a summary; the plan controls.

Other provinces and federally regulated employers have their own rules. If your employees are not under Ontario law, check the equivalent standards before relying on the wording.

What the letter does not include

There is no probationary period clause, no hours of work, no vacation or leave wording beyond the benefits box, no termination clause, no remote-work or relocation terms, no non-solicitation clause and no wording for part-time, contract or fixed-term roles. The template states the job is full-time. If the role is part-time or temporary, change it in your own copy or draft a contract instead. An offer letter is also not a full employment agreement, so many employers send a separate contract alongside it.

Practical sending tips

Send the PDF with a short covering email, keep the signed copy in the personnel file, and do not let the start date or salary change in conversation without issuing a revised letter. If the offer is conditional on background checks, say what checks and by when, so the candidate is not left uncertain.

Related tools

Pair the letter with the contractor agreement generator if the person will be an independent contractor, not an employee, the NDA generator for a separate confidentiality agreement, and the sign PDF tool to add a signature to the finished letter.