So far in this hiring series of the MKS HR blog we have gone through pretty much all the steps in the hiring process. You’ve created a Job Ad and learned that there is a difference between a job description and a job posting. You have posted your job and have received resumes that you have screened. You have decided on which ones are worth a brief phone screen and from those phone screens you decided who you will interview face to face.
You have conducted your face to face interviews; have decided on who to move to the reference check stage. You have completed the reference checks and are ready to make an offer of employment to the candidate you want to have as your new employee. So now what? Your next step here is to call and make a verbal offer of employment to the candidate followed up by an email. The verbal offer is just to let them know you would like to offer them the role, and that you will be emailing them their offer letter which outlines their start date, salary, vacation, benefits (if applicable) and any other terms of their employment with your company. In that email it’s a good idea to also include a new hire form which captures their information such as address, emergency contact information, etc. that you will need for your employer files. It’s also a good idea to attach the latest tax forms both federal and provincial to the email as well.
You might be asking why the offer letter is so important and if I am a small business do I really need one? Yes any business, regardless of their size needs to absolutely have an employee sign an offer letter. As a business owner, you sign a contract with a new service provider, right? The same thing applies here. You are creating a contract between your company and the employee and if anything would ever get to a stage where lawyers are involved, they will ask you what does the contract say? Even if you are hiring your first ever employee you must have a signed offer letter or employment contract in place. Equally important is that you get your new hire to sign the offer letter before their first day.
So what should your offer letter include? Well it must have the basics, in terms of the title of the role they are being hired for; their start date; who they are reporting to; their salary (so what they get paid per hour or per year); any paid vacation days-if not then the minimum under the ESA they are entitled to; any health or dental benefits; a section about company policies and procedures; a section about termination.
If your head is spinning wondering what you should have or what you shouldn’t have, then MKS HR has once again made it easy for you. We have created a basic offer template that you can use for your hires (but note, that any additions you make should be reviewed by a lawyer to ensure you are in compliance), along with a new hire form and links where you can always get the most up to date federal and provincial tax forms (ensure you click on the one for the province you do business in within Canada).Click here for your New Employee Offer package.
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