Job Offer to Your First Hire: Is the Email You Send Already a Contract?

The Offer Is the Step Founders Prepare Least

A first hire gets a lot of attention upstream. You think about the role for weeks, you write the job description, you sort the applications, you interview, sometimes you call references. Then the decision is made, and the pressure flips: the candidate may have other processes running, so you want to move fast. The offer becomes a formality you rush to get out the same evening.

That is where the risk sits. Without an HR team, nobody has a template, nobody rereads the email, and the terms you agreed on are scattered between your notes, a phone call and a few messages. The offer is the first document in the relationship that has legal weight, and it is often the one written with the least care. This is not a question of judgment: it is the predictable result of having no process for a step you go through once a year.

What French Law Sees in Your Email

Founders often talk about a “promesse d’embauche” as if it were one thing. Since a ruling of the Cour de cassation of 21 September 2017, French law distinguishes two different documents, with very different consequences if you change your mind.

The offer of an employment contract

An offer is a document in which the employer proposes a job, specifying the role, the pay and the start date, and expresses the will to be bound if the candidate accepts. It can be withdrawn freely as long as it has not reached the candidate. Once it has, withdrawing it before the deadline you set, or before a reasonable time if you set none, prevents the contract from being formed, but it can make you liable for damages.

The unilateral promise of an employment contract

A promise goes further. It gives the candidate the right to decide whether the contract exists: the role, the pay and the start date are set, and only their consent is missing. If you revoke it while they still have time to answer, the contract is formed anyway when they accept. According to the Ministry of Labour’s Code du travail numérique, a withdrawal outside a refusal or the candidate’s silence at the end of the deadline produces the effects of a dismissal without real and serious cause. The CFDT’s guide on the subject adds that the candidate can then claim damages and a notice period indemnity.

The 2017 case itself started with an email. A rugby club sent a player’s agent a draft contract by email, with the role, a monthly salary and a start date. Twelve days later, the club withdrew it, also by email. The player accepted after that. The court ruled that it was an offer, withdrawn before acceptance, so no contract was formed. The lesson for a founder is not the outcome of that case: it is that an ordinary email was analysed line by line to decide what kind of commitment it was.

Three Ways Founders Commit by Accident

None of these situations is rare. They happen because the offer is written in a hurry, not because the founder is careless.

• The enthusiastic message. “Welcome aboard! As discussed, product designer, 48k, you start on 5 January.” Sent by text or email, a message like this already contains the role, the pay and the start date. Depending on its wording, it can be read as a firm commitment rather than a friendly confirmation.
• The offer with no deadline. Without a response date, the candidate has a “reasonable time” to answer, and nobody knows in advance what that means. Meanwhile you cannot move on to your second choice without risk, and the role stays open.
• The offer sent before the checks. You wanted to secure the candidate, so the offer went out before your co-founder’s agreement, before the budget was confirmed, or before you called references. If one of these steps then goes wrong, you are no longer deciding whether to hire: you are deciding how to undo a commitment.

The common thread is timing. The written offer should be the last step of a decision that is already closed, not the first step of a decision you are still making. If reference checks are part of your process, our guide on reference checks that actually tell you something explains how to run them before the offer, not after.

What a Clear Offer Contains

A clear offer protects both sides: the candidate knows exactly what they are accepting, and you know exactly what you have committed to. Whether you send an offer or a promise, the content is largely the same. What changes is the intention you express and the right you give the candidate.

On the pay line, take the time to check the real cost before writing the number. Our article on how much to pay your first employee covers employer contributions and how to set a level you can hold. On the trial period, keep in mind that it confirms a good decision; it does not replace one, as explained in our piece on why the probation period is not a safety net.

Offer or promise: decide on purpose

Neither document is better in itself. A promise is a strong signal for a candidate who has another offer on the table: it tells them the decision is theirs. An offer with a clear deadline is more suited when you are still waiting for a budget or a co-founder’s agreement, provided you say so. The mistake is not choosing one or the other. The mistake is producing one without knowing which, because the wording was improvised.

The Sequence From Yes to Day One

Most offer problems disappear when the steps happen in the right order. For a first hire, this sequence holds in a single page of notes:

• Close the decision internally. Budget confirmed, co-founder aligned, references called. Nothing written goes out before that.
• Make the offer by phone first. Say what you are offering and that a written proposal follows within a day. This is where you answer questions, not in an email thread.
• Send the written offer within 24 hours. Same terms as the call, every element of the table above, and a response date. A few working days is a common practice: long enough to decide, short enough to keep your other options open.
• Get the acceptance in writing. A reply email is enough to know where you stand.
• Handle the paperwork before day one. The hiring declaration (DPAE) goes to URSSAF no earlier than eight days before the start date and always before the first day of work. Since November 2023, the employer must also give the employee written information on the job, the place of work and the start date within seven calendar days, and the rest (pay details, leave, working time) within a month. A signed contract usually covers all of it.
• Stay in touch until the start date. A yes is not a first day. Our article on candidates who keep interviewing after accepting explains why the weeks in between deserve attention.

With or without a recruiting tool

If you recruit without any tool, the terms you agreed on live in three places: your notes from the last interview, a phone call, and a WhatsApp thread. The offer is rebuilt from memory, which is exactly how a salary or a start date ends up wrong. If you already pay for an applicant tracking system that came with offer templates, the risk is different: the template is generic, filled in quickly, and rarely tells you whether you are producing an offer or a promise. In both cases, what helps is having the whole process in one place, so that the decision, the agreed terms and the written offer come from the same record. This is what we built Kynto for founders hiring without an HR team to do: sourcing, screening, scoring and scheduling in one tool, so the offer is the end of a structured process rather than an email written from memory.

Key Takeaways

• In France, a written message that states the role, the pay and the start date can already be an offer or a promise of an employment contract, email and text included.
• An offer can be withdrawn before the deadline, at the cost of possible damages. A promise cannot: withdrawing it has the effects of a dismissal without real and serious cause.
• Send nothing in writing before the decision is closed internally: budget, co-founder, references.
• Always give a response date, and state that a full contract follows acceptance.
• Choose between offer and promise on purpose, not through improvised wording.

FAQ

Can I withdraw a job offer after sending it?

It depends on what you sent. A simple offer can be withdrawn before the candidate accepts, but if they have received it and the deadline has not passed, they can claim damages. A unilateral promise cannot be withdrawn during the response period: if the candidate accepts, the contract exists, and ending it is treated like an unfair dismissal. If you are in this situation, talk to an employment lawyer before acting.

Does a job offer sent by email or text message count?

Yes, the format does not decide the question. What matters is the content: if the message states the role, the pay and the start date, and shows your will to be bound, it can be analysed as an offer or a promise. The 2017 ruling of the Cour de cassation concerned a draft contract sent by email.

How long should I give a candidate to answer?

The law sets no fixed duration, only a reasonable time when you set none. In practice, a few working days is common for a permanent role: enough for the candidate to compare and talk it over, short enough for you to contact your second choice if the answer is no. What matters most is that the date is written in the offer.