Is It Necessary for Companies to Provide Appointment Letters, or Can They Set Their Own Rules?

Dear All,

I work with an educational firm in the Organizational Development Department. As part of the revision of policies, there was a query. I have heard from a couple of my ex-colleagues that the appointment letter is no longer mandatory for an organization to provide. Only an offer letter is released to a candidate once he/she is selected in an interview. After completing their probation period post joining, they are entitled to a confirmation letter.

Should there be any requirement for appointment proof for banking or any other purposes, a separate Employment Proof letter is provided, mentioning their address and tenure with the organization.

Could you please help me understand if this is the new process that should be followed? Or can each company have its way of issuing letters?

Thank you.

Issuing Letters to Selected Candidates

Normal practice is to issue appointment letters to selected candidates after completing all formalities related to the recruitment of that candidate. Of late, two types of letters are issued. The first is the LOI (Letter of Intent), which can also be termed an "Offer Letter" that only states that he/she is selected in the organization for the position and details the documents he/she is supposed to bring at the time of joining. This enables the candidate to submit his/her resignation letter to his/her current company without any hesitation.

Offer-cum-Appointment Letter

The second is an Offer-cum-Appointment letter, which clearly informs the candidate about the terms and conditions of employment, leave details, working hours, details of emoluments, etc.

I would like to add that my company follows the above procedure.

Thanks.

Employment is a contract; hence, an Appointment Letter is needed. Appointment Letters contain terms and conditions of employment well-defined with sufficient precision, leaving little scope for different interpretations.

Kritarh Team
25 Nov 2019

Dear Swapnil, the contention of your friend treating the issuance of an appointment order as redundant may not be correct in the realm of formal employment. It is true that an appointment letter is not mandatory except under the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1961, and the Sales Promotion Employees (Conditions of Service) Act, 1976, where, to my knowledge, it is mandatory under sections 6-A and 5 respectively. However, an appointment order concludes the process of recruitment by formalizing the acceptance of the offer letter by the prospective employee. A certificate of employment for other purposes is certainly different from an appointment letter, which contains the contract of employment in a nutshell.