Offer letter format — and a checker for the one you have been sent
Every other page about offer letters is written for the employer. This one starts with the person holding the letter: tell it what yours says, and it tells you what is missing and what is worth arguing about before you sign.
Offer letter checker
Answer what your letter says, and see what is missing or worth arguing about
This is a keyword search, not an analysis. It tells you which clauses a letter mentions so you can find and read them — it will never tell you a clause is absent, because a letter can impose a bond without using the word. Nothing you paste leaves this browser.
Nothing you enter or paste is sent to us — the check runs entirely in this browser. It is general information about common clauses, not legal advice on your contract.
1 item marked “resolve before signing”. Scroll to the result for what to ask, and take advice on a bond or a broad non-compete rather than relying on a general page.
What this letter needs
1 to resolve before signing
4 to get in writing · 1 worth knowing
Notice is asymmetric — 90 days from you, 30 from them
Resolve before signingA 60-day gap is not describing a notice period, it is describing a cost of leaving. No Indian statute fixes a notice period for a resigning employee, so this is purely contractual — which also means it is purely negotiable.
What to ask: Ask for the two to be made symmetrical. It is the most negotiable clause in an Indian offer letter because making it equal costs the employer nothing today.
The employer's PF contribution is counted inside your CTC
Get it in writingThis is common and it is not improper, but it means the headline CTC is larger while your gross salary is smaller by the same amount. It is also the single largest swing factor between two offers quoting the same number.
What to ask: Ask whether the employer's contribution can sit outside CTC instead. It often costs the employer nothing today, and it is worth asking even though many have a fixed policy.
A gratuity provision is counted inside your CTC
Get it in writingGratuity is the one line in a CTC you can lose entirely: it is counted from day one but payable only once you complete five years of continuous service. Leave at four years and eleven months and you were costed for it every year and never receive it.
What to ask: Nothing to negotiate here, but price the offer with it taken out if you do not expect to stay five years.
A 90-day notice period
Get it in writingLong notice is normal in some sectors and it is still a real constraint: it is the gap between accepting your next offer and being able to start, and it is what a future employer will ask you to buy out.
What to ask: Ask whether a buyout is permitted and on what basis it is calculated — the clause, the salary component and the divisor — so the figure is knowable rather than discovered later.
Probation notice period is not stated
Get it in writingNotice during probation is usually a fraction of the confirmed-employee period, and HR quotes the wrong one surprisingly often — in both directions.
What to ask: Ask for the notice period applicable during probation to be stated separately in the letter.
The offer is conditional on background verification
Worth knowingEntirely normal, and worth noticing only for its timing: it means the offer can be withdrawn if verification throws up a discrepancy. The commonest discrepancy is employment dates not matching the EPF record.
What to ask: Check your own EPF passbook against the dates on your CV before you resign from your current job, not after.
Work out what this CTC actually pays into your account before you negotiate it. Open the in-hand salary calculator
Already inside a long notice period? Serve it or buy it out
Key takeaways
- →A written appointment letter in a prescribed format has been every employee's entitlement since the labour codes commenced on 21 November 2025. Asking for the terms in writing is not asking a favour.
- →A CTC figure with no component-wise breakup is the single most consequential omission. It hides four things that each move your monthly pay.
- →Asymmetric notice is legal precisely because no statute fixes notice at all — which also makes it the most negotiable clause in the letter.
- →The three structural asks worth more than they cost: employer PF outside CTC, symmetrical notice, and a higher Basic as a share of CTC.
- →On a joining-bonus clawback, the question is whether you repay gross or net. The gap is tax you never received.
- →Decline requests to deposit original certificates. Attested copies plus direct verification do the same job without the leverage.
- →A bond and a non-compete are the two clauses to take actual advice on rather than to assume either way.
Offer letter, appointment letter, employment agreement
These three get used interchangeably and are not the same document. Knowing which one you are holding tells you how much of it is still negotiable, and which parts are headline terms rather than the terms that will actually govern your employment.
| Offer letter | Appointment letter | Employment agreement | |
|---|---|---|---|
| When | At offer stage, before you accept. | On or before your date of joining. | Sometimes alongside the appointment letter, sometimes instead of it. |
| What it does | Offers the position and the headline terms. | Sets out the full terms of the employment relationship. | A contract, often longer, used for senior or specialised roles. |
| Usually conditional? | Yes — on verification and documentation. | No. By this point the conditions have been satisfied. | No. |
| How negotiable | Most. This is the window. | Some, but the conversation is harder once you have resigned elsewhere. | Varies, and worth taking advice on before signing. |
| The statutory position | Not itself named in the codes. | An entitlement for every employee since 21 November 2025, in a prescribed format stating the employee's details, designation, category, wages and social security. | A contract, governed by contract law and by the codes where they apply. |
| What to do with it | Check it, ask your questions, then accept. | Read it slowly. This is the one that governs. | Read it with advice if it contains a bond, a broad non-compete or unusual clawbacks. |
The takeaway: the negotiating window is the offer letter, and it closes the moment you resign somewhere else. Everything you want changed should be asked for before that, in one message, and specifically.
The clause checklist, in plain English
| Clause | What it means | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| CTC and breakup | The total annual cost of employing you, split into components. | That the breakup exists, and whether employer PF and any gratuity provision sit inside the total. |
| Basic salary | The component PF, gratuity and the HRA exemption are all computed on. | Its share of CTC. A low Basic raises this month's pay and shrinks three entitlements at once. |
| Variable pay | Performance-linked, quoted at target, paid annually or quarterly. | What percentage of target has actually paid out in recent cycles. |
| Joining bonus and clawback | A one-off payment, usually repayable if you leave within a stated period. | Whether the repayment tapers monthly, and whether it is gross or net. |
| Probation and confirmation | An initial period with shorter notice and sometimes fewer benefits. | The notice period during probation, and whether confirmation is automatic. |
| Notice period | How much notice each side must give to end the employment. | Both figures. If only yours is stated, that is the finding. |
| Notice recovery | What you pay if you leave before the notice period runs. | The clause, the salary component and the divisor. No statute supplies these. |
| Service bond | A commitment to stay a minimum period or pay. | What the amount represents and how it was computed. Take advice. |
| Non-compete | A restriction on working for competitors after you leave. | Whether it can be narrowed to confidentiality and non-solicitation. |
| Transfer or posting | The employer's right to change your location or role. | How broad it is. “Any location at the company's discretion” is worth narrowing. |
| Statutory enrolments | Provident fund, ESI where applicable, and gratuity. | That enrolment is confirmed rather than offered as a benefit. ESI applies only at or under ₹21,000 a month. |
| Working hours | Normal hours, and how overtime is treated. | The statutory limits are 8 hours a day, 48 hours a week; overtime at twice the wages, so a clause implying unlimited hours is worth querying. |
The takeaway: the third column is the whole page. Every one of those checks is a short, specific, answerable question — and an employer's willingness to answer them in writing is itself the most useful thing you will learn before you sign.
What a CTC breakup actually means for your pay
The reason to insist on the breakup is that the components behave completely differently once you are employed. Some reach your account monthly, some accumulate in your name, and one you can lose entirely.
On a ₹12,00,000 CTC with Basic at 40%, HRA at 50% of Basic, employer PF inside CTC and computed on the wage ceiling, and a gratuity provision included. Your own structure will differ — the point is that the gap between CTC and salary is four separate things, not one.
- Take-home pay₹11,02,523
- Your own PF contribution₹36,000
- Employer PF and pension₹36,000
- Gratuity provision₹23,077
- Income tax and professional tax₹2,400
The takeaway: tax is not the main reason your salary is smaller than your CTC. On these figures 97.9% of the CTC is still yours — it is just that 6.0% of it is sitting in a provident fund rather than in your account. The genuinely lost portion is small, and the single largest piece of it is the gratuity provision, which you forfeit entirely by leaving a day before your fifth anniversary.
View the figures as a table
| Part of CTC | Per year | Per ₹100 | What happens to it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Take-home pay | ₹11,02,523 | ₹91.88 | spendable now — The only part that reaches your bank account. |
| Your own PF contribution | ₹36,000 | ₹3.00 | saved in your name — Deducted from your salary, but it is your money earning interest. |
| Employer PF and pension | ₹36,000 | ₹3.00 | saved in your name — Counted in CTC, paid into your PF and EPS accounts. |
| Gratuity provision | ₹23,077 | ₹1.92 | gone — Yours only after five completed years. Leave earlier and you never see it. |
| Income tax and professional tax | ₹2,400 | ₹0.20 | gone — On the cheaper of the two regimes, including the 4% cess. |
Run your own offer through the in-hand salary calculator before you negotiate it. A structural change that looks small on the letter can be worth more than the increase you were going to ask for.
The notice clause, and why it is the one to argue about
Notice is the most consequential clause in an Indian offer letter and the least defended, because people assume it is fixed by law. It is not. No provision of any of the three labour codes prescribes the notice period a resigning employee must serve, or the salary base on which a recovery for unserved notice is computed. Notice is a creature of your contract, read with policy and, where they apply, certified standing orders.
Two consequences. An asymmetric clause is not a rule imposed on the employer by anybody — it is a term somebody drafted, and making it symmetrical costs them nothing on the day you sign. And if the letter is silent on the basis for a recovery, the employer has to identify the clause it relies on when the time comes, which is a much better position for you than discovering a number on a settlement statement.
Days of notice typically required, by sector. These are contractual conventions, not law — no Indian statute fixes a notice period for a resigning employee. Your appointment letter is the authority on yours.
- Notice you must give
- Notice the employer must give
The takeaway: the number to look at is not the length but the difference between the two bars. A contract asking ninety days of you and offering thirty in return is not describing a notice period, it is describing a cost of leaving — and it is the single most negotiable clause in an Indian offer letter, because it costs the employer nothing today to make it symmetrical. If you are already inside one, work out whether serving or buying out is cheaper before you commit to a date.
View the figures as a table
| Sector | You give | They give | Gap | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IT services and consulting | 90 days | 30 days | 60 days | The widest gap in the market, and the sector where buyout clauses are most common. |
| Product and technology firms | 60 days | 60 days | — | Often symmetrical, and often negotiable down at offer stage. |
| Banking and financial services | 90 days | 90 days | — | Long but usually symmetrical, with garden leave used instead of a buyout. |
| Manufacturing | 30 days | 30 days | — | Shorter, and more likely to be governed by certified standing orders. |
| Startups and small firms | 30 days | 30 days | — | Shortest, but also the least likely to be documented clearly. |
| During probation, any sector | 15 days | 15 days | — | Usually a fraction of the confirmed period. HR quotes the wrong one surprisingly often. |
Red-flag clauses, and what each one means for you
| Clause | Why it is a flag | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| No CTC breakup at all | Four separate things that change your monthly pay are left undefined. | Ask for it in writing before responding to anything else. |
| Original certificates to be deposited | It gives the employer physical leverage over your ability to take another job, and serves no verification purpose. | Decline. Offer attested copies and direct verification with the issuer. |
| Notice asymmetric by a month or more | Not a notice period — a cost of leaving, and one no statute required. | Ask for symmetry. It is the single most negotiable term in the letter. |
| A service bond | A commitment to stay or pay, whose enforceability turns on whether it recovers a real cost or operates as a penalty. | Ask what the amount represents. Take advice before signing. |
| A broad non-compete | Difficult to enforce against your ability to earn a living, but capable of causing trouble at the worst moment. | Ask for it to be narrowed to confidentiality and non-solicitation. |
| Clawback with no stated amount or period | Either there is none — worth confirming — or the terms exist somewhere you have not seen. | Ask for the repayment terms to be stated, or confirmed as absent, in the letter. |
| Variable pay above about a quarter of CTC, with no payout history | A large share of the package is conditional and may pay below target by design. | Ask for the actual payout percentage for the last two or three cycles. |
| “Any location at the company's sole discretion” | An unlimited transfer right, which can be used to make a role untenable rather than to end it. | Ask for it to be limited to named cities, or to be exercised by agreement. |
| Probation with no stated notice, or open-ended confirmation | A probation that quietly rolls on keeps you on short notice indefinitely. | Ask for the probation notice period and whether confirmation is automatic. |
The takeaway: only two of these nine need a lawyer. The other seven need one short email, sent before you accept, asking for things an employer can agree to without a meeting.
Joining bonus clawback: the arithmetic
A clawback clause requires you to repay a joining bonus if you leave within a stated period. The clause is ordinary and usually reasonable. What is not obvious is how much it can actually cost, and the reason is tax.
Take a ₹2,00,000 joining bonus with a 12-month clawback, at a 30 per cent marginal rate. The bonus was paid to you as salary, so tax was deducted: you received ₹1,40,000. Now suppose you leave in month seven.
| Full amount repayable | Tapering month by month | |
|---|---|---|
| Bonus paid | ₹2,00,000 | ₹2,00,000 |
| You actually received | ₹1,40,000 | ₹1,40,000 |
| Repayable at month seven | ₹2,00,000 | ₹83,333 |
| Out of pocket | ₹60,000 | ₹25,000 |
The takeaway: the difference between the two columns is a single word in the clause. A tapering clawback at month seven costs a fraction of a non-tapering one, and in both cases the out-of-pocket figure is larger than it looks because you are repaying gross money you only ever received net. Both questions — does it taper, and is it gross or net — are answerable in one sentence by email before you sign.
What to negotiate, and what not to bother with
Worth asking for
- ·The employer's PF contribution outside CTC rather than inside it.
- ·A symmetrical notice period.
- ·A higher Basic as a share of CTC, if you intend to stay several years.
- ·The probation notice period stated, and confirmation made automatic.
- ·A tapering clawback, on the net amount.
- ·A non-compete narrowed to confidentiality and non-solicitation.
- ·Attested copies instead of original certificates.
Not worth the energy
- ·The provident fund rate. It is notified, not negotiable.
- ·Professional tax. Constitutionally capped at ₹2,500 a year.
- ·Splitting your pay into more named allowances. The default tax regime withdrew the exemptions those used to buy.
- ·Gratuity as a benefit. It is statutory; what matters is whether it sits inside CTC.
- ·A grander designation than the role. It will not match your EPF record at the next background check.
Keep the asks to two or three, put them in one message, and say that you are otherwise ready to accept. Structural requests succeed far more often than requests for more money, because they are drafting changes somebody already has the authority to make.
The letters themselves, for whoever is issuing one
Both specimens below are deliberately symmetrical and conservative: the same notice period each way, no service bond, no post-employment non-compete, and the CTC breakup inside the letter rather than attached. Those are drafting choices rather than legal requirements, and they are the choices that make a letter not need the checker above. They are also useful to a candidate who wants to see what a complete letter looks like in order to tell what is missing from theirs.
Offer and appointment letter generator
Two complete specimens with the CTC breakup built in, symmetrical notice, and no bond or non-compete. Fill the fields and the letter builds itself.
The registered name, not the brand name. A background check reconciles against the registered one.
State it as a line, and say in the letter whether it is inside or outside the CTC total. Leaving that unsaid is the commonest complaint candidates have.
The specimens state the same period for both sides. That is a deliberate drafting choice, not a legal requirement.
These specimens are deliberately symmetrical and conservative: the same notice period both ways, no service bond, no post-employment non-compete, and the CTC breakup inside the letter rather than attached. Those are drafting choices, and an employer who wants different terms should take advice on them rather than take them from a generator.
Your draft
0 of 16 details filled[Company name]
[Date]
[Candidate's full name]
Subject: Offer of employment — [Designation]
Dear [Candidate's full name],
We are pleased to offer you the position of [Designation] at [Company name], based at [location] and reporting to [reporting manager and designation]. Your proposed date of joining is [joining date].
Your cost to company will be [annual CTC] per year, made up as follows. This breakup forms part of this offer:
Basic salary: [basic] per year
House rent allowance: [HRA] per year
Special allowance: [special allowance] per year
Employer's contribution to provident fund: [employer PF] per year
The employer's contribution to provident fund shown above is included within the cost to company figure. Statutory deductions, including your own provident fund contribution, professional tax where applicable and tax deducted at source, will be made from your salary as required by law.
You will be on probation for [probation period] from your date of joining. Your employment is subject to a notice period of [notice period] on either side after confirmation.
This offer is conditional on satisfactory background and reference verification, and on your providing attested copies of your educational and employment documents. We do not require original certificates to be deposited with us.
Confidentiality and non-solicitation. You will keep the company's confidential information confidential during and after your employment, and for twelve months after you leave you will not solicit the company's employees or clients with whom you worked directly. Nothing in this letter restricts your ability to take up employment elsewhere.
A detailed appointment letter setting out the full terms of employment will be issued on or before your date of joining.
Yours sincerely,
[Name]
[Designation]
[Company name]
Accepted:
Name: [Candidate's full name]
Signature: ______________________ Date: ______________
Free, no signup, no email needed. Everything you type stays in this browser — the document is built on your device and nothing is sent to us.
If the offer is revoked after you have resigned
This is the worst outcome in the whole process and the one most worth preparing for rather than reacting to. Two things decide how it goes: what the offer was conditional on, and how fast you move.
Preserve the record first. Get the revocation in writing, with the reason stated. Keep every message about the offer, your acceptance and anything said about the joining date. An offer conditional on background verification can usually be withdrawn if a genuine condition failed, so which condition is being relied on — and whether it was real — is the question that matters.
Then move on the practical side, immediately. Ask your current employer in writing whether the resignation can be withdrawn, before the role is backfilled. Until a resignation has been accepted and acted on, a withdrawal request is often allowed; once a replacement has been hired it generally is not. A verbal reassurance is not enough — ask for written confirmation that the resignation is treated as withdrawn and that your service is continuous.
Take advice early rather than once the notice period has run. The options narrow quickly, and most of them depend on documents you either kept or did not.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between an offer letter and an appointment letter?
Is an employer required to give a written appointment letter in India?
What must an offer letter contain in India?
Is a service bond enforceable in India?
Are non-compete clauses valid in India?
Should I sign an offer letter that does not have a CTC breakup?
What is a joining bonus clawback and how much can it cost?
Can an employer ask me to deposit my original certificates?
Is an asymmetric notice period legal?
What should I negotiate in an offer letter, apart from the CTC?
What happens if the employer revokes the offer after I have resigned?
What does 'probation' actually change?
Should the offer letter mention gratuity and PF?
Can I ask for changes to an offer letter, or is it take-it-or-leave-it?
Next
What to do next
In this order, and all of it before you resign from your current job.
- 1
Ask for anything missing, in one message
The CTC breakup first, then the notice period for both sides, then the probation notice. Two or three asks, specifically worded, with a line saying you are otherwise ready to accept.
- 2
Price the offer properly before you negotiate it
A structural change can be worth more than the raise you were going to ask for, and you cannot see that from the CTC figure.
Open the in-hand salary calculator - 3
Check your own EPF record against your CV dates
Employment dates not matching the EPF passbook are the commonest verification discrepancy, and the one most likely to put a conditional offer at risk. Check before you resign, not after.
Where to find your PF record
Related tools
Sources for the figures on this page
Is every employee entitled to a written appointment letter in a prescribed format? Yes, since the labour codes commenced
PIB, Ministry of Labour & Employment, on the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020, under "Formalisation through Appointment Letters": "Every employee will be given appointment letters in the prescribed format specifying the details of the employee, designation, category, details of the wages, details of social security etc." The Code came into force on 21 November 2025. The same release records that the Code replaces 13 Acts with one, and reduces 55 forms to 20.
View sourceChecked 2026-10-14
Is there a central statutory rule that notice-pay recovery must be computed on basic pay (or on gross)?
No. No provision of the Code on Wages 2019, the Code on Social Security 2020 or the Industrial Relations Code 2020 prescribes the salary base or the divisor for recovering pay for an unserved notice period from a departing employee. Notice period and any recovery for not serving it are creatures of the contract of employment, read with the employer's policy and, where they apply, certified or model standing orders. Anyone stating that basic pay is the national default is stating a market convention, not a rule. The correct first step is to read the clause and ask the employer to identify the basis it has applied.
View sourceChecked 2026-09-01
Statutory limits on working hours, and the overtime rate
PIB, Ministry of Labour & Employment, on the OSH & WC Code 2020: "No employee shall be required to work for more than 8 hours in a day and 48 hours in a week", with the power to fix intervals and spread-over given to the appropriate Government; overtime, with the worker's consent, is paid at "twice the ... wages". The release notes the earlier overtime cap of 75 hours a quarter can now be fixed by the appropriate Government.
View sourceChecked 2026-10-14
Where the duty to issue a wage slip now comes from — the Payment of Wages Act 1936, which most guidance still cites, is repealed
Code on Wages 2019, s.69(1): "The Payment of Wages Act, 1936 (4 of 1936), the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 (11 of 1948), the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965 (21 of 1965) and the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 (25 of 1976) are hereby repealed." s.69(2) preserves things done under the repealed Acts only so far as they are not contrary to the Code. The Code came into force on 21 November 2025, and the Code on Wages (Central) Rules, 2026 were notified by G.S.R. 343(E) dated 8 May 2026. SOURCING NOTE: the section text is from an officially-reproduced bare-act copy rather than the gazette, consistent with how the other Code sections are cited in this file; the specific rule and form number prescribing the wage slip were NOT verified in this pass and are deliberately not stated here.
View sourceChecked 2026-10-14
EPF wage ceiling for mandatory coverage and for monthly contributions, per month
Gazette Notification dated 17 September 2026, reported by PIB, Ministry of Labour & Employment (Release ID 2314111, 23 September 2026): the wage ceiling "which was last enhanced to Rs 15,000 per month in September 2014, has now been revised to Rs 25,000 per month", and "the wage ceiling for monthly contributions shall be enhanced to Rs 25,000 per month or the actual salary/wages, whichever is lower". Employees not enrolled solely because their wages exceeded Rs 15,000 become eligible where monthly wages do not exceed Rs 25,000. The ceiling is a notified amount: Code on Social Security 2020, s.2(89).
View sourceChecked 2026-10-14
Monthly wage ceiling for ESI coverage
PIB, Ministry of Labour & Employment (Release ID 2149347): "The last revision in the wage ceiling for coverage under ESI Act, 1948 was done w.e.f. 01.01.2017, wherein the wage limit was raised from Rs. 15,000/- per month to Rs. 21,000/- per month." A higher ceiling applies to persons with disability; that figure is deliberately NOT asserted here because it was not read off a government page in this pass.
View sourceChecked 2026-10-14
What changed
14 October 2026 — first published. Written against the labour codes as in force from 21 November 2025, under which a written appointment letter in a prescribed format became an entitlement for every employee. The page states plainly that no provision of any of the three codes fixes a notice period for a resigning employee or the salary base for recovering unserved notice, which is why the notice clause is treated here as negotiable rather than given. Nothing on this page asserts that a service bond or a non-compete is or is not enforceable: both turn on their own drafting, and the page says to take advice rather than guessing in either direction.
Written and reviewed by Deepak Middha, Chartered Accountant (ICAI, India) and founder of LayoffNext.
Founder of LayoffNext. Chartered Accountant and finance educator who builds free tools for people navigating layoffs.