When hiring any new employee, the company will send several correspondences before a particular role is filled. There are two crucial letters that a business will send, and they are an offer letter and appointment letter. An offer letter provides a position to the selected candidate, sets the compensation, or what the company requires from a new employee. And the appointment letter goes into additional details about a job and company itself that will ease an employee in a new position. Let us check out the major differences between offer letter and appointment letter:

What’s an Offer Letter?

If a company hires the job candidate, they will send the offer letter to make them know that they have got the job position. Every company formats offer letters differently, but this letter normally includes detailed information about their promised position & compensation. It might include several details about several other benefits that an employee can expect and joining date. The time period must give an employee a little time to leave from the current position. Suppose a company requires further information from an employee before its start date, like the birth certificate, professional licenses, or Social Security number; this letter will detail this.

This letter can normally state if an employee has to submit any background checks and drug tests before it gets official. An offer letter will state the deadline for an employee to react to an offer, and suppose there is not any response before the given date; the company can hire another applicant.

Also Read: How to Accept an Offer Letter via Email with Sample

What’s an Appointment Letter?

All companies do not issue any appointment letters, but companies who do won’t send any letter until an offer letter is accepted because the letters point specifics about a job that somebody needs to know after they accept the job appointment. An appointment letter generally includes complete details about where an employee must show up for the work, the start date of a position, expected work schedule as well as employee’s agreed salary that can be very different than stated in an offer letter if both the parties negotiated on the salary after an offer letter was handed over.

In many cases, the business will be reiterating information discussed with the job applicant during the interviews and offer letter. An appointment letter will be considered formal than an offer letter and will be often used as the contract or employment proof for the loan applications or other purposes.

The offer letter and the appointment letter are an important part of the recruitment cycle. The company hires new employees, and the process includes several tasks for a recruitment cycle. These letters are important letters in context to the final recruitment stages.

If an applicant clears all the interview rounds successfully and completes the criteria decided for a candidate, then he’s regarded as an appropriate candidate for a company. As he cleared all necessary rounds and has proved his suitability, the company offers him the letter, and the letter is called the offer letter.

Offer Letter includes:

• Salary package
• Position offered
• Date of joining

It might include complete details like medical plans and benefits that a company will provide. Besides this, the offer letter generally asks an applicant to submit the essential documents & certified copies. It is on an applicant to accept their offer or ask for any kind of negotiations. In some situations, the candidate will have a choice to reject an offer if it doesn’t meet their expectations.

Alternatively, an appointment letter is the next step after an offer letter. If a candidate is pleased with the company offers, and the documents offered by an application are verified successfully, then a company issues the appointment letter. The letter will be described as the guarantee from a company that the company is hiring an applicant. In the letter, the same information as the offer letter will be furnished, and in case any negotiations and changes are taken place, then agreed new terms are mentioned in the letter.

Difference between Offer Letter and Appointment Letter

1. The offer letter means that you’re negotiating with a candidate and finalized on the salary part. It is not the final document as a candidate will join or will not. The candidate has to accept this same by signing.
2. When an employee joins an organization, on the basis of their offer letter candidate will be liable to get an appointment letter. It gives details of the general terms of a company organization.

What should be included in an employment letter?

Employment letters come in various sizes and shapes, but will universally have some basic provisions:

• Title & duties
• Term of employment
• Compensation & benefits
• Exclusivity
• Termination
• Confidentiality
• Arbitration
• Severance pay

What should be included in an offer letter?

An offer letter must have the following provisions:

• Start date
• Position
• At-will employment statement
• Compensation

Besides the offer letter, certain jurisdictions need that employers offer non-exempt employees with notices at a time of hire in writing.

• Rate of pay, whether paid by an hour, day, week, shift, piece, salary, commission, or, including rates for overtime, when applicable
• Allowances took as a part of the minimum wage (tips, meal & lodging deductions)
• Regular payday decided by an employer
• Name of an employer, which includes DBA names that are used by an employer
• The physical address of an employment office or place of business, mailing address, in case different
• Telephone number of an employer
• Name, address and phone number of an employer workers’ insurance carrier

Offer Letter	Appointment Letter
Document that conform your Job Offer	After Offer Letter gets Issued Appointment Letter will be the best Interaction between the Company and Employee
States Details of the Job Offer that includes Description, Position, Salary and Other Benefits	Appointment Letter is a Guarantee about Job and Position in a Company,
It is on you To Decline/Accept Employment In a Concerned Company	When you Sign an Appointment Letter Confirms the Acceptance of Terms and Conditions of a Company.

Wrapping Up 

So these are some important roles in the offer letter and appointment during the hiring stage of a company. People misunderstand it as interchangeably, but that is not a case. Both have got their use and importance. The above table will give you a clear differentiation between the offer letter and appointment letter.