HR letters are used by the human resources department to communicate important information to employees throughout the employee lifecycle in the business.
There are different letters to be sent when recruiting employees, during their appraisals, and when employees leave the organisation.
The Human Resources or HR department in a company is responsible for creating and issuing these letters. This is an all-in-one resource with free downloadable templates for all HR letters and formats.
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What is an HR Letter?
An HR letter is a formal document used for various employee-related purposes within a company. These letters, along with other HR documents, help maintain a clear record of important milestones throughout an employee’s journey at the company.
HR letters are used throughout the employee lifecycle, from the initial stages of onboarding new hires to performance reviews during an appraisal. They’re also used when an employee leaves the company, with documents like a relieving letter confirming their last day and final pay details.
Types of HR letter formats and templates
The HR department uses different formal letters for their day-to-day activities such as:
- Making a job offer
- Appraising the work done
- Revising/incrementing salary
- Employment agreement
- Promoting the employees
- Transferring of employees
- Relieving of employees
- Providing experience certificate
Offer Letter
During the recruitment process, a company calls for applications and interviews the shortlisted candidates. After this, the candidates who clear all selection rounds are sent an offer letter. It can be sent as a hard copy or a soft copy through email.
This document is treated as a letter of intent, and the relevance of this letter depends on the acceptance of the employment offer by the candidate. The purpose of this letter is to propose the employment offer to the candidate, which can be accepted or rejected. If accepted, the candidate becomes an employee of the company.
Key Components: Designation, salary structure, joining date, office timings, leaves offered, organisation policies, important clauses for employment, etc.
Appointment Letter
Once the offer letter is accepted by a candidate, the HR department issues an appointment letter. Fundamentally, an appointment letter is different from an offer letter. The offer letter is sent to a prospective candidate who becomes an employee on accepting the same. On the other hand, an appointment letter is sent to the employee. This letter talks about the employment terms in greater detail.
An appointment letter marks the official beginning of employment. Hence, it is one of the most important documents. It is printed on the company letterhead and adequately signed.
Key Components: Details about the designation, role in the organisation and work profile, probation and confirmation terms if required, salary structure, office timings, employment policies and terms, code of conduct and discipline clauses, activities that can cause termination, notice period, etc.
Editable Sample Appointment Letter
Appraisal Letter
Depending on individual roles and the organisation’s policies, employees’ performance is appraised. Performance reviews can be conducted monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, or annually. Once the appraisal is over, the results and scores are communicated through an appraisal letter.
This process involves assessing the work done by the employee, productivity, key performance indicators, skills acquired, etc. The HR department may also survey the supervisors and colleagues of the employee. Appraisal interviews can also be conducted for this purpose.
Key Components: Details about performance and allocated scores, grades or rankings. It also contains the promotion or increment details, if any. All these details are provided on the official letterhead duly signed by the relevant authority.
Editable Sample Appraisal Letter
Promotion or Increment Letter
Usually, increment or promotion is decided while appraising the employee’s performance. Hence, the details of promotion and increment are an integral part of the appraisal letter. But, sometimes, there can be certain urgent needs in the organisation, and an employee might be promoted to fill the void. In such cases, a promotion or increment letter is issued.
Key Components: It includes the effective date of promotion and increment, the details of the new roles and responsibilities, and the revised salary.
Editable Sample Promotion Letter
Bonafide Letter
The employer issues a bonafide letter to an employee as proof of employment. This HR letter certifies that an employee is currently working for the organisation. It can be used to apply for a loan or passport.
Key Components: It contains the details of the employee and mentions that they are in service of the organisation.
Editable Sample Bonafide Letter
Payslips or Salary Slips
A payslip or salary slip is a document containing the details about the actual salary, allowances and deductions of an employee. These are issued by the company every month. Payslips are the proof of actual salary received by the employee. This might be required while applying for loans or while switching jobs.
RazorpayX Payroll auto-creates the best payslips in the market, sending them to your employees instantly via WhatsApp, Slack, and e-mail.
Key Components: It contains the details about the salary, salary components, allowances and deductions. The company might also include the details of available leaves.
Appreciation Letter
An appreciation letter is given by the employer to express gratitude to a hard-working employee. It is a good way to make the employee feel valued and recognised.
Employees who receive well-written and genuine appreciation letters are more enthusiastic about working and develop an intrinsic motivation to work rather than relying on extrinstic factors. Therefore, a good appreciation letter is very important.
Key Components: Specific details of the achievement for which the employee is being commended, with impact and examples.
Editable Sample Appreciation Letter
Bonus Letter
A bonus letter is given to an employee to communicate distribution of bonuses during the annual or bi-annual review cycle. It is an important way to recognise and reward your employees, contributing to a great work environment.
The actual bonus letter is just as important as the financial incentive, since it gives a feeling of achievement and validation to the employees.
Key components: Specifics of the bonus in absolute numbers and percentage, explanation and appreciation of the employee’s work done to deserve the bonus.
Experience Letter
An experience letter is provided to a departing employee, with details of the employee’s tenure and conduct during their employment. It is an important communication to the employee’s next employer, and so must be well-written.
Key components: Date of joining of the employee, skills and experience, important achievements and contributions, date of resignation.
Editable Sample Experience Letter
Full and Final Settlement Letter
A full and final settlement letter outlines all the final payments the employee will receive, such as the last paycheck, any accrued vacation time, or bonus pay.
The letter also serves as a formal confirmation of the last day of employment. This helps ensure a clean break and avoids any confusion about outstanding balances on either side.
Key components: amount of settlement, date of resignation/termination, account statement
Editable Sample Full and Final Settlement Letter
Relieving Letter
While leaving the organisation, an employee gets a relieving letter from the company. It is required at the time of joining a new company. Usually, a relieving letter is accompanied by an experience letter and the full & final settlement payslip.
Key Components: It usually details the joining and relieving date of the employee along with gratitude and best wishes for future endeavours.
Editable Sample Relieving Letter
Termination Letter
A termination letter is a formal document that informs an employee their employment is ending. It will specify the last day of work and briefly explain the reason for termination, following company policy.
The letter will also detail any final payments the employee is entitled to, like a final paycheck or unused vacation time. Since a termination letter deals with sensitive subjects, the wording of the letter is highly important.
Key components: Reasons for termination, formal date of termination, settlement details, reminder to return company property.
Editable Sample Termination Letter
Importance of Ready to Use HR Letter Templates
Having ready-to-use HR letters streamlines essential communication within a company and ensures consistency in how employee-related matters are addressed.
Imagine the time saved by having pre-formatted templates for common situations like offering a new position, conveying a performance review, or acknowledging an employee’s resignation.
These templates can be customized with specific details for each situation, but the core structure and legal language are already established. This not only saves HR time and resources, but also helps guarantee a professional and uniform communication style across the department.
How RazorpayX Payroll redefines HR & payroll management
A major objective of the HR department in a company is to maintain smooth communication with the employees and ensure that the organisation policies are being followed. HR letters play an important role in this.
RazorpayX Payroll is an HR & payroll software that allows you to:
- Select from multiple HR letters templates based on your specific requirement
- Create customised letter templates
- Automate HR administrative tasks like payroll, employee reimbursements, compliance filings like PF, PT, etc.
- Configure unique holiday lists and customise and track employee shift timings
- Use several built-in tools for CTC calculation, salary preview, and more
- Provide affordable and best-in-class employee insurance for teams as small as 2!
It’s a state-of-the-art HR & payroll solution designed for startups. The interface is so easy & intuitive that a 7-year old child can run payroll (Not our words, our client’s). If you don’t believe us, take it for a free test drive and see yourself!
