Job offer: a definition
A job offer (عرض العمل), also called an offer of employment, is what an organisation presents to a candidate once it has selected them: the role, the pay and the terms on which the candidate would join. It comes before the employment contract is signed, and it stands separate from that contract.
Each part of that definition places the job offer at a particular point in the hiring process. It follows selection, so it is addressed to one candidate whom the organisation has already chosen. It sets out three things: what the role is, what it pays, and what joining involves. And it stands apart from the employment contract in two senses: in time, because it precedes the signature, and in substance, because it is not the contract itself. What follows turns on those three features.
What a job offer should include
A job offer sets out the following points:
- The job title and the department. It also names the person to whom the employee will report.
- The pay, set out in detail. It separates the basic pay, the allowances and any variable element, where there is one.
- The expected start date. It is the date on which the organisation expects the employee to begin work.
- The place of work and the pattern of working hours. It states where the work is done and on what working pattern.
- Anything on which the offer depends. It applies where the offer is conditional on something.
- A deadline for the reply. It matters because an offer with no deadline stays open without end.
The first item says where the role sits. A title on its own names the job. The department and the reporting line tell the candidate in which part of the organisation they would work and to whom they would answer.
The second item asks for the pay in detail rather than as a single total. A total that combines basic pay, allowances and variable pay tells the candidate an amount, but not how that amount is made up. Setting out each element separately, and stating whether a variable element exists at all, shows the candidate which part of the amount is fixed and which part varies.
The expected start date, the place of work and the pattern of hours describe when and how the job begins and how it runs from one day to the next. Stated in the offer, they are part of what the candidate is asked to accept, alongside the title and the pay.
The last two items concern the offer itself rather than the job. If the offer is conditional, the condition belongs in the offer, for the reasons given under the conditional job offer below. The deadline for a reply sets how long the offer remains open. Without a deadline, nothing in the offer marks the point at which it closes, so it remains open with no end.
Where a job offer stands in relation to the employment contract
A job offer is a step that comes before the contract, and the reference for the rights of both parties is the written employment contract, not the offer.
For that reason, the offer states expressly that its contents will be carried into a contract, and that where the offer and the contract differ, the contract is the reference. Written into the offer, those two statements tell the candidate at the outset which document the employment relationship will rest on, so the order between the two documents is not left for the candidate to discover later.
The costly error at this stage is to leave a term out of the offer and then include it in the contract for the first time. The employee accepted on the basis of one picture and then found a different one. Whatever the term is, it reaches the employee only at the contract, after the decision to accept has already been taken on the strength of the offer.
What leads a candidate to accept or decline a job offer
Pay is not the only factor in whether a job offer is accepted, even though it is the factor in plain view. Other features of the offer send signals as well:
- A short deadline. It can come across as pressure.
- Vagueness about the career path. It can come across as a sign that no path exists.
- A delay between the final interview and the offer. It can come across as lukewarm interest.
The deadline and the career path concern what the offer says. The delay concerns when the offer arrives, and it carries a cost beyond the impression it leaves. During the interval before the offer, the candidate may accept another offer, and an offer that arrives after that acceptance arrives too late, whatever it contains. Speed in reaching the job offer is therefore part of the offer’s strength, and not only a courtesy within the candidate experience.
The conditional job offer
A job offer may be made subject to a condition being met: the completion of a procedure, the provision of a document, or meeting whatever the regulations require for the person to take up the work.
The condition is written into the offer in express terms, together with what follows if it is not met. It is not left to be understood by implication. A condition stated in this way tells the candidate, before they accept, that the offer depends on something, what that something is, and what happens to the offer if it does not come about.
The alternative shows why the condition has to be stated. Sending an unconditional offer and then withdrawing it because a condition that was never mentioned has not been met puts the organisation in an unenviable position, and word of it reaches people other than the candidate concerned.
After a job offer is accepted
The period between acceptance and the start date is easy to neglect. It is also a period in which a candidate may withdraw if the organisation’s contact with them stops once they have signed their acceptance.
What fills that period is simple: confirming the start date, telling the new employee what they will need on their first day, and telling them who will receive them. Each of the three continues the contact that began with the offer, so that it does not stop at the signature.
The period between acceptance and the start date is the beginning of employee onboarding, not a prelude to it.
This is an explanation of the concept, not legal advice.
A standalone Saudi HR system
One employee file holding the contract, the documents and their expiry dates, the attendance record, leave, salary and end-of-service entitlements. End-of-service, overtime and leave-balance calculations are built into the system.
A standalone system on its own subscription. The connection to Qoyod Accounting is now available.