An employee hiring package containing an applicant selection criteria record, along with an employment application form and a post-employment information form, is included among the Business Tools to assist you in the process.
After you've interviewed your employee candidates and checked their backgrounds, you are ready to make a job offer. Certain information should be included in the offer, and statements that imply an employee contract should be avoided unless that is your intention.
The hiring process can be a lengthy one but once you have gotten through the interviews, reviewed your criteria and have done the appropriate background and reference checks, you are ready to make an offer to your top choice to fill your employment position. The offer can be made orally, either in person or over the phone, or in writing. Whichever method or combination of methods you choose, you will want to include certain information when you make the offer. Perhaps even more importantly, however, you should be careful to avoid language that implies an employment contract of any kind.
When a job offer is extended, it should include the following information about the job:
Exercise caution to avoid inadvertently creating an employment contract when you're making a job offer.
An employee hiring package containing an applicant selection criteria record, along with an employment application form and a post-employment information form, is included among the Business Tools to assist you in the process.
The employment-at-will laws in most states give you wide latitude if you need to terminate an employee. You don't want to throw away that privilege by inadvertently giving special rights to someone. So unless you're intentionally entering into a written contract with an employee that guarantees the position for a set length of time, we recommend that you avoid making any statements that could be construed as entering into an employment contract.
How do you avoid an unintentional employment contract? No matter what the form of the job offer is, the principle is the same. Do not make promises, or statements that can be construed as promises, that you cannot or do not intend to keep.
Keep the following guidelines in mind when making a job offer to avoid an unintended employment contract with a potential hire who accepts your offer:
Statements that designate employees as "permanent" in contrast to those designating employees as "probationary" were found to constitute a contract for long-term employment.
"You will have a long, rewarding and satisfying career ahead of you" and "we will pay one-half your moving expenses now and the balance after a year" were statements construed as meaning that the employment relationship was intended to be at least one year long.
At the time of hire, Mary was told that she had to provide her own car for the position. Mary did not have a car, so she obtained a loan and purchased a car. After she bought the car, Mary was informed that someone else had been hired for the position. The company was liable for money damages because Mary had relied on their statements, causing her to purchase the car.
In another example of detrimental reliance on a job offer, Billy resigned from a position he held and turned down another attractive job offer, relying on the job offer made by another company. The company refused to hire Billy, however, because the necessary, favorable references were not received. A court could hold the company to its promise because the reference question should have been resolved before the job was promised.