Making Employment Offers

The final step in the recruiting and selection process is to extend an offer of employment to the selected candidate. There are two primary types of offers companies can use: conditional and final. A “conditional offer” is an offer of employment that is made subject to and conditioned upon an applicant’s successful completion of specified requirements (such as medical examinations, reference checks, demonstration of ability to work in the U.S., etc.). A “final offer” is extended once an applicant satisfies all of the company’s hiring requirements. Its content describes pertinent job information such as: date of hire, start time, position hired for, compensation, benefits, and other important employment related terms. All offers of employment should be made in writing and incorporate language that states that the offer is not a guarantee of employment or a contract of employment.

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), disability-related questions and medical examinations may only be required as a condition of a job offer after a conditional offer has been extended, and only if the same questions or exams are required of all entering employees in that same job category – not selectively. Asking such questions before extending a conditional offer, or applying them inconsistently, can violate the ADA.