Offers, negotiation, pay bands and joining bonus
Make the offer from a salary template with the full breakup, check it against the pay band and peers, and get it approved. The candidate accepts on a link. Every version and counter-offer is kept, a joining bonus is paid and clawed back through payroll, and the employee is made from the accepted offer.
PLANSScale only
The problem it solves
- Offer letters are typed in Word, and the breakup on the letter does not match what payroll later pays.
- An offer goes out above budget, or far above what peers in the same job earn, and nobody noticed before it was signed.
- After three rounds of negotiation, nobody knows which figure was finally agreed.
- A joining bonus is paid, the person leaves in two months, and the money is never recovered.
How it works
- From the application, Make Offer: position, Reports To, joining date, Valid Until, the salary template and an annual CTC or monthly gross. The Breakup tab shows each component a month and a year, gross, employer contributions, approximate take-home and total CTC.
- Add a joining bonus, relocation support, notice buy-out or retention bonus if you agreed them. The Salary Fitment tab shows the band, the compa-ratio, the hike over the current salary and how internal peers are paid.
- Send for Approval. An offer above the requisition's budget also goes to management.
- Send to Candidate. The candidate gets the PDF letter and a link, and accepts by typing their name, declines with a reason, or asks to discuss.
- To change an approved or sent offer, Revise with the reason. A new version is made, and it goes for approval again if it is above what was approved.
- On an accepted offer, Create Employee makes the employee, the salary and the onboarding. Nothing is typed again.
Everything it does
The offer
- Basis: Annual CTC or Monthly Gross, from the salary template
- Confidential Salary hides it from ordinary payroll staff
- Extra Terms and the Entity's offer letter terms; Print > Offer Letter
- Statuses: Draft, Waiting Approval, Approved, Sent, Accepted, Declined, Expired, Withdrawn
- An offer not answered by Valid Until expires; Offer Valid For is 7 days to start with
- The Response tab keeps when it was sent and answered, the typed name and the reason for a decline
Versions and negotiation
- Every version kept with who changed it, when, why, its total CTC, gross and one-time amounts, and the letter as sent
- Changed from the Previous Version lists each change with the percent
- A revision of an accepted offer needs a new acceptance; Create Employee waits for it
- The candidate's counter: expected annual CTC, preferred joining date and a note; answered with words or a new version
- Calls and Notes: Call, Meeting, Message or Note, with the next step and its date
- Filters: Counter to Answer, Waiting for a New Acceptance
One-time amounts
- Joining bonus, relocation support and notice buy-out, each with a claw-back period (12 months to start with)
- Retention bonus paid after the months you set, without claw-back; variable pay shown on the offer only
- Paid by itself as a monthly input on the payslip from the joining date
- If the person leaves within the claw-back period, a recovery is made under loans and advances; what is left goes to the full and final
- The whole amount is recovered, or only the part for months not served with Claw-back in Proportion
Pay bands and fitment
- Bands by grade or designation, optionally department and location: minimum, midpoint and maximum annual CTC from a date
- Fitment shows the band, compa-ratio, position in the range, the requisition's budget, the current and expected salary and peers' lowest, median and highest CTC
- Warnings: outside the band, above the budget or the approved figure, a hike above 40 % (a setting), above three quarters of peers
- Peers shown only to users with Confidential Salaries and only with at least 3 peers
- The fitment informs the approver; it never blocks an offer by itself
Who uses it
RecruiterMakes, sends, revises and withdraws offers, and creates the employee from an accepted one.
ApproverApproves or sends back the offer, with the fitment in front of them.
CandidateReads the offer on a link, accepts, declines or asks to discuss.
PayrollSees the one-time amounts arrive on the payslip and any claw-back as a recovery.
Where you use it
- Web: Recruitment > Applications > Selection and Offers > Offers and One-time Payments; Recruitment > Configuration > Offers and Joining > Pay Bands
- Offer page for the candidate, without a login
- The SmartMy HRMS app: Menu > Offers (send to the candidate, create the employee, mark the salary confidential). Joiners > Revise the offer; approvals in My approvals (built and in testing, not in the app stores yet)
- Not in the app: making a new offer with the full breakup is done on the web
What you control
Settings
- Offer Valid For (days): 7; Offer Letter Terms on the Entity
- Claw-back months: 12 for each amount; Claw-back in Proportion: off
- Point Out a Hike Above (%): 40; Peers Needed to Show Parity: 3
- Joining Bonus Paid As and Relocation Paid As: the salary components Joining Bonus and Relocation Support
Approvals
- Offer: the hiring approvers you name; left empty, HR decides, and management too when the offer is above the requisition's budget
- A revised offer above the approved figure goes through the chain again by itself
Notifications
- Offer to Approve: to the approvers, on screen and by email
- Offer Letter: to the candidate with the PDF and the link, by email and on WhatsApp where connected
- Offer Answered: to the recruiter when the candidate accepts or declines
- Offer: The Candidate Wants to Discuss: to the recruiter
Questions
Does the offer letter match what payroll pays?
Yes. The breakup comes from the same salary template payroll uses, and Create Employee makes the salary from the accepted offer.Can the candidate negotiate online?
Yes. On the offer page they click I would like to discuss and give the salary and joining date they want. The recruiter answers in words or with a revised offer; every version is kept.What if we revise an offer the candidate already accepted?
The earlier acceptance no longer counts. The offer shows Needs a New Acceptance and the employee cannot be created until the candidate accepts the new version.How is a joining bonus recovered if the person leaves early?
When their last working day falls within the claw-back period, a one-instalment recovery is made from salary. Anything left is taken in the full and final settlement.Will a pay band stop an offer above the maximum?
No. The fitment warns the approver. If you want an extra level for such offers, make a separate approval chain for them.Related features
RECRUITMENTInterviews, scorecards, tests and video interviewsInterview rounds with standing panels and scorecards, where each panelist's assessment is their own and locked once given. Online tests marked by the system, and one-way recorded video rounds. A workspace where the hiring manager answers yes, hold or no, and the final choice is recorded with back-ups.RECRUITMENTCandidate forms and background verificationThe candidate fills in their own details once on a link, and HR checks them against the documents. Background checks run with signed consent, by your own staff or an agency. Joining can wait until the checks are clear.JOINING AND PROBATIONPre-joining, onboarding tasks and the joining kitFrom the accepted offer to the end of the first week. Each joiner gets a joining page without a login, a daily risk score and the joining kit to sign online. Medical checks run where a role needs one, every department gets its onboarding tasks, and each joiner gets a buddy and a first-week plan.PAYROLLSalary components, structures and revisionsBuild every salary component on a form and group them into templates. Give each employee a salary by annual CTC or monthly gross with the breakup worked out, and keep every revision with its date.LOANS, INCREMENTS, BONUSLoans, advances and recoveries from salarySalary advances and staff loans with your eligibility rules, interest free, flat or reducing balance, recovered through payroll with EMI holidays, pauses, top-ups and foreclosure. Canteen, hostel and shop purchases come off the same payslip, and whatever is left is settled at exit.ACROSS SMARTMY HRMSApproval chains and one approvals inboxEvery HR request, from a day's leave to the full and final, goes through its approval chain and waits in one Approvals inbox. Levels, approvers, reminders, escalation and stand-ins are settings you control, per Entity and kind of request.
See your own month run in it.
Tell us how many people you have, how you take attendance and how your salary is structured. We will show you SmartMy HRMS set up that way.