Typically, employees think of a job offer letter as a document making them an offer of employment. They often focus on the salary, vacation and benefit entitlements and the start date. They might ignore the rest.

The risk is that a written job offer or a letter offering employment is actually a contract.  That offer letter may include clauses that limit an employee’s rights while working or limit her entitlements if the employer ends her employment.

We have several blogs on offer letters and employment contracts and what to look out for in assessing any offer.

Many offer letters include termination clauses. For information about termination clauses see here. To understand how a termination clause can change what you should receive if you are fired, see here.

You should also consider how probation clauses and attention clauses might affect your employment.  For more information about these see here.

Take Away

A job offer letter may be a contract. It is important it is to seek legal advice when signing any contract, whether for a new position or a new contract with your current employer.

Spending an hour with an employment lawyer reviewing each term of an offer letter will ensure that you know the legal implications of each clause in the document and may lead to changes to the offer that benefit you. If you have an employment contract that you would like reviewed, a lawyer at MacLeod Law Firm would be happy to assist you. Please contact us at [email protected] or 647-204-8107.