Is Skipping Hard Copies of Offer Letters at Joining Legally Okay and Professional?

Importance of Providing Hard Copy of Offer/Appointment Letter

Please suggest to me the importance of providing the hard copy of the offer/appointment letter at the time of joining. In my current company, providing a hard copy at the time of joining is not in practice. Currently, we send the offer letter via email, and acceptance is also done through emails.

I just want to know how correct this process is. As far as I know, the hard copy must be signed by the employee at the time of joining, and a second copy of the same should be given to the employee. Is this legally correct, and what impression does this practice make on a new joiner?

Thanks,

Bhakti

Importance of Providing Appointment Letters

Yes, appointment letters are to be given in print format, on the company's letterhead, and should cover the following areas:

1. Date of issue of the appointment letter
2. Name and designation of the candidate
3. Date of joining
4. Salary structure
5. Some important policies like office time, workdays, employment by will clause
6. It should be mentioned that the detailed HR policies are covered in the HR manual.
7. Probation period
8. Separation policy on both ends for both the probation period and confirmation period
9. Any exceptional policies that you have
10. Signature of the CEO or Recruitment Head or other responsible person
11. On a duplicate copy, take a signature from the candidate after they read the whole document and are ready to abide by the same.

Employee documents are to be filed for all purposes, with HR auditing being the best practice. HR auditing is similar to financial auditing, wherein HR auditors inspect if proper documents are filed and kept, and if things are running as they should be.

Honestly, if a company is not issuing an appointment letter, I would not like to work with them. For me, as a person, the only relevance and proof of my work experience is my appointment letter. In the absence of which, it becomes difficult to prove my employment. I am sure there would be people who wouldn't be happy with the management not providing appointment letters. If you are in HR, I would suggest that you start educating your employer about the pitfalls of not maintaining proper documents.

On the employer's side, since you have not provided me with an appointment letter, I do not have the obligation to serve the notice period before I resign. As a result, I am free to abscond, and there won't be a proper handover of responsibilities.

Thank you.

Hi,

My company took a hard copy of all the documents (Offer letter, Confirmation Letter with my signature) and gave me a soft copy of all the documents with HR signature. Is it okay, or should I ask them for a hard copy?