The candidate said yes on the phone at eleven. Somewhere between that call and a signed contract, a competitor's offer, a counter-offer from their current employer or plain second thoughts can arrive. This guide is about closing that gap to a couple of hours: what the offer letter and contract must contain in the UK, how the day-one written statement and right-to-work rules fit, who signs first, how to send the whole onboarding pack in one go, and what you hold if the candidate later says the terms were different. It covers England, Wales and Scotland, with a note on hires abroad.
Why the hours matter
An offer letter that has to be printed, signed, scanned and emailed back typically takes two to five days to return, and every one of those days is a day in which the candidate is still on the market. Sending the offer from a template within the hour, to be signed on the candidate's phone, changes the psychology as well as the paperwork: a person who has signed has decided. It also fixes the record. In a later dispute the questions are "when was the offer accepted?", "which version of the terms applied?" and "was the start date agreed?", and a certificate with timestamps and a fingerprint of the exact file answers all three.
The two-hour window
- Within 15 minutes of the yes: open the offer-and-contract template, type the candidate's name and personal email, pre-fill salary, title, start date and manager, confirm the conditions, choose sequential signing (candidate first, employer last) and send. Add an SMS code for senior hires or shared inboxes.
- Within the hour: the candidate reads the letter and contract on their phone, ticks the acknowledgements for the handbook and policies, asks any question in a comment, and signs.
- Before the end of the day: the hiring manager or HR countersigns. The pack is sealed, everyone receives it, and the completion time on the certificate is the moment the contract was concluded.
- In parallel: right to work, references and any qualification checks run through their own processes, as conditions of the offer.
Everything that makes this possible is decided in advance in the template; on the day you add a name, an email and three numbers. How templates work.
What the offer must contain
An offer that is complete enough to sign is one the candidate cannot later say was vague. Include the job title and who they report to, the start date, salary and pay frequency, hours and place of work (including any hybrid arrangement), probation, notice, holiday, pension enrolment, any conditions (references, right to work, qualifications, a medical where lawful), and a sentence that the attached contract contains the full terms. Attaching the contract to the same pack avoids a second signing round and means the candidate signs the terms they will actually work under.
Conditional offers are still contracts, conditional on the stated events. Say what the conditions are and what happens if one fails. The signing tool records that both sides signed those words; it does not know whether the conditions were met.
The day-one written statement
Under section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, as amended from 6 April 2020, an employer must give an employee (and a worker) a written statement of particulars no later than the first day of employment, and most of the particulars must be in a single document. The required items include the parties, the start date, pay and intervals, hours and days (and whether they may vary), holiday entitlement, sick pay, other paid leave, notice, job title or description, the place of work, probation terms and training requirements. Pensions, collective agreements and some other particulars may follow within two months.
The statement does not have to be on paper and does not need the employee's signature. Folding it into the contract and sending the two together for e-signature before day one meets the timing rule and gives you a timestamped record that it was given; the certificate's "viewed" and "signed" events show when. This guide is general information, not legal advice; check the current section 1 list when you update your template.
What the Employment Rights Act 2025 changes
The Employment Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025 and is being commenced in phases through 2026 and 2027. For the offer stage the points that matter are:
- Day-one rights from 6 April 2026: statutory sick pay from the first day with the earnings threshold and waiting days removed, and paternity and unpaid parental leave as day-one rights. Your template's sick pay and leave wording should reflect these.
- Unfair dismissal from 1 January 2027: the qualifying period is set to fall to six months and the compensation cap is removed, replacing the earlier proposal of a day-one right. Probation clauses in offers for 2027 starts should be drafted with that in mind.
- Tribunal time limits extend to six months from 1 October 2026.
- Other measures, including the Fair Work Agency and trade union provisions, do not change the offer letter itself.
The practical consequence is that offer and contract templates need reviewing at each commencement date. Anchored fields in your template mean a revised contract from your adviser can be uploaded and the fields re-placed in minutes, rather than rebuilding the template.
Conditions, right to work and references
A right to work check is not a signing matter and cannot be done by a signing tool. Under the Home Office employer's guide, updated 1 October 2026, employers must complete a check before the person starts work using one of three routes: a manual check of original documents, an online check with the person's share code, or a check through a certified identity service provider for eligible passport holders. What the offer pack can do is collect a signed declaration of the documents the candidate will present and timestamp it, and an attachment field can take a copy where your process wants one. The statutory excuse comes from the check itself and the records the guide requires.
References and qualification checks likewise run alongside. Keep their dates in your HR system, and keep the conditional wording in the signed offer so that a failed condition is handled under terms both sides agreed.
On data protection, the lawful basis for processing a candidate's details to prepare and conclude a contract is the "contract" basis and legitimate interests, with legal obligation covering right to work records; the ICO's guidance explains why consent is the wrong basis for something the candidate has little real choice about. Give a privacy notice and, if you want to evidence it, a "received" acknowledgement, not a consent box. GDPR and electronic signatures covers the roles.
Who signs first
Candidate first, employer last, in sequence. The candidate's signature is the acceptance; the employer's countersignature confirms it and the completion time becomes the moment the contract was concluded. If the offer needs internal approval (a salary outside the band, say), put the approver before the candidate as an approver role: they approve or reject without signing, the candidate is only invited once the approval is in, and the approval sits on the certificate with its time and identity. Routing and approvers.
The onboarding pack
| Item | How it is signed or acknowledged | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Offer letter | Signature and date fields for candidate and employer | The acceptance and its exact terms |
| Contract with section 1 particulars | Signature fields; pre-filled salary, title, start date | Full terms and the day-one statement in one place |
| Handbook, IT, data and health and safety policies | Read-and-acknowledge documents with a tick each | Evidence each policy was given and seen |
| Privacy notice | "I have received" acknowledgement, not consent | Transparency obligation evidenced without misusing consent |
| Right to work declaration | Text fields and an attachment field | A dated declaration alongside, not instead of, the Home Office check |
| Bank and emergency details | Text fields with validation | Payroll ready before day one |
One pack, one signing session for the candidate, one certificate listing every acknowledgement and attachment. For annual re-acknowledgements of the handbook across the whole workforce, the same acknowledgement documents go out with bulk send and come back as one spreadsheet of who ticked what and when.
If the candidate later says otherwise
"I was promised £50,000", "my start date was the 1st", "I never agreed to the probation period": the certificate answers each with the fingerprint of the file the candidate signed, their email address, device, IP address and time zone, the consent step, and the time of each event. If the candidate produces a different version of the letter, its fingerprint will not match on the public verification page. Keep the sealed file as received, never a re-saved copy, together with the completion email and the contract ID. Audit trails explained shows how to read the certificate in a dispute, and when electronic signatures are binding sets out the law that makes it count.
Candidates outside the UK
For a hire in the United States, the ESIGN Act (15 U.S.C. §7001) and state UETA laws give the same "not invalid merely because electronic" rule, and the consent step on the signing page records the candidate's agreement to do business electronically. For EU hires the eIDAS Regulation applies; most employment contracts can be signed with a simple electronic signature, but a few member states require a handwritten or qualified signature for particular employment documents, so check the country whose law governs the contract. In every case the UTC timestamps on the certificate, with each party's time zone shown, avoid arguments about which day an offer was accepted.
Frequently asked questions
Is a verbal acceptance binding before the letter is signed?
A contract of employment can be formed orally once the essential terms are agreed, but proving what was agreed, and when, is the problem. The signed offer letter with its certificate turns "I think we agreed £48,000" into a dated record of the exact terms both sides signed. That is why the window between yes and signature matters.
Can I send the offer before references and right to work are done?
Yes, as a conditional offer. State the conditions plainly (satisfactory references, a valid right to work check, any qualification) and what happens if they fail. The signing tool records that both sides signed the conditional terms; the checks run in parallel through their own processes.
Does the candidate need to sign the written statement of particulars?
No. Section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 requires the employer to give the statement no later than the first day; it does not require the employee's signature. Having them sign it anyway, as part of the contract, evidences the date it was given and that they saw it.
What if the candidate wants to negotiate after I send it?
Before they sign, use "correct" to change the salary or start date; the original is voided and the corrected letter goes out under the same contract ID with the correction recorded. After they sign, agree a variation as a new contract. Do not edit a sealed file.
Can a recruitment agency send the offer on the employer's behalf?
Yes, with the employer as the countersigning role and the agency as sender. The certificate shows who sent it and who signed; the employment contract is still between the employer and the candidate. Agencies should also have their terms of business signed by the client before the introduction.
Sources
- Employment Rights Act 1996, s 1: statement of initial employment particulars (day-one right since 6 April 2020)
- Employment Rights Act 2025 (legislation.gov.uk)
- Gateley, Employment Rights Act timeline (updated 5 October 2026)
- Home Office: right to work checks, an employer's guide (updated 1 October 2026)
- ICO: lawful basis guidance (UK GDPR)
- Law Commission, Electronic execution of documents (2019)
- 15 U.S.C. §7001 (ESIGN Act) for US hires
This guide explains how electronic signature law works in general terms and links to the primary sources. It is not legal advice: rules differ by country and document type and they change. For a specific transaction, ask a qualified lawyer in the relevant jurisdiction. Spotted something out of date? Email support@airesdocs.com and we will check it against the source.
Put it into practice
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