Offer Letter와 근로계약서는 다르다?

Offer Letter와 근로계약서의 차이

한국 후보자에게 직책, 연봉, 입사일, 보고라인이 적힌 오퍼레터를 발송했고 후보자가 이메일로 수락했다. 이후 본사가 채용동결을 선언하자 한국법인은 정식 계약서 미체결을 이유로 오퍼를 철회했다.

이런 상황이 외국계 기업에서는 자주 발생한다.

본사에서 흔히 하는 전제

• •“정식 Employment Agreement가 없으므로 계약은 성립하지 않았다.”
• •“오퍼레터는 협상용 문서에 불과하다.”
• •“Conditions precedent 문구가 없어도 본사 최종 승인이 당연히 전제된다.”

이 사안에서 가장 먼저 확인할 것은 문서의 제목이 아니라 실제 운영이다. ‘Offer’라는 제목보다 근로조건의 확정성과 후보자의 수락이 중요하다.

실무에서는 다음 쟁점이 서로 연결된다: 채용내정 또는 근로계약 성립 여부가 주요 쟁점이 된다.

Offer Letter vs. Employment Agreement in Korea

A Korean candidate receives an offer letter specifying the job title, salary, start date, and reporting line, and accepts the offer by email.

Before the employee starts work, however, global headquarters announces a hiring freeze. The Korean entity then withdraws the offer on the ground that no formal employment agreement has yet been signed.

This type of situation occurs relatively frequently in multinational companies operating in Korea.

Global headquarters may commonly assume that:

• •“No formal Employment Agreement has been signed, so no employment contract exists.”
• •“An offer letter is merely a document used during negotiations.”
• •“Even without an express conditions-precedent clause, final approval from headquarters is implicitly required.”

Under Korean law, however, the first question is not simply what the document is called, but how the hiring process actually operated.

The title “Offer Letter” is less important than whether the essential employment terms were sufficiently definite and whether the candidate clearly accepted those terms.

In practice, several legal issues are closely connected, particularly whether a binding employment contract or a legally protected hiring commitment has already been established.

For multinational companies hiring employees in Korea, an Offer Letter should therefore not be treated as a simple administrative document. Its wording, approval conditions, and acceptance process should be carefully structured from the outset.