Last updated: 16 September 2026
A letter that confirms facts is routine. A letter that promises future pay or job security for a fixed period is a different thing. The first says what is true today: job title, start date, current salary and contract type. The second makes a new commitment, and it can be read as changing the employment contract. In short, confirm, do not promise.
That line matters most when the ask is for two years of guaranteed salary. Landlords abroad and residence processes often want proof that money will keep arriving, and an employee under time pressure may write the wording themselves. It can sound official without being an official form. This page explains what these letters are for, where the line sits, and what to check before you sign. It is general information, not legal advice.
What is the letter usually for?
Almost all of these requests come from one of two places. A residence or permit process abroad asks for proof of income, or a landlord asks for proof that the rent can be paid. Both want the same thing: evidence that the person has a job and a salary, from someone other than the person themselves.
The employee is not usually trying to trap you. They have been handed a list of documents, the list says "proof of employment", and nobody has told them what good wording looks like. So they copy something from the internet, or write it out and make it sound formal. The result often goes much further than the process ever asked for.
Ask what the receiving body requires before you write anything. Often a plain letter on headed paper and a few recent payslips are enough.
What does a normal employment confirmation letter contain?
A normal confirmation letter states facts you already hold in your own records. Job title, start date, whether the contract is permanent or fixed term, current gross salary and how often it is paid, and the notice period on each side. It is dated, signed by someone with authority, and says nothing about what will happen next year.
Much of this overlaps with the written statement of employment particulars that UK employers must give staff, described by GOV.UK. If you already issue that document, you have most of the wording you need. A confirmation letter is really just a short restatement of it for a third party.
Two habits keep these letters safe. Write in the present tense, and attach evidence rather than adjectives. Payslips prove more than praise does, and they commit you to nothing.
When does a letter stop being a confirmation and become a promise?
The moment it says anything about the future that is not already in the contract. A fixed term of guaranteed pay, a promise not to give notice, a commitment to a specific exchange rate, or an assurance that the role is safe for a set number of years all point the same way. They add terms, and added terms can be argued about later.
In the UK, changes to an employment contract normally need agreement from both sides, as GOV.UK sets out. A signed letter that the employee also relied on is exactly the kind of document a tribunal or a court is asked to read as agreement. The risk is not that you meant to change the contract. It is that the wording allows someone to argue you did.
The table below shows the same five facts written two ways. The left column states what is true now. The right column turns the same fact into a commitment about the future.
| Fact | Safe wording, confirms | Wording to avoid, promises |
|---|---|---|
| Job title and start date | "Employed as [title] since [date]." | "Will remain in this role until [date]." |
| Current salary | "Current gross salary is [amount] per year, paid monthly." | "We agree to pay [amount] per month for the next two years." |
| Contract type | "The contract is permanent, with no end date." | "Employment is guaranteed for the duration of the tenancy." |
| Notice period | "Notice is [period] from either side." | "We will not serve notice during this period." |
| Future employment | Say nothing, or "no notice has been given by either party as at [date]". | "We do not intend to terminate employment for two years." |
Currency is worth a separate thought. Quoting a euro figure next to a sterling salary looks helpful, but it fixes a rate that will have moved by the time anyone reads the letter. Give the salary in the currency you actually pay, and let the reader convert it.
Who should write the letter once someone is employed abroad?
Whoever is the legal employer on the date the letter is signed. That sounds obvious, but it is the part that most often goes wrong during a move. A letter written by a UK company about a person who is by then employed in another country describes a relationship that has changed, and the body reading it may reject it for exactly that reason.
This comes up when a move runs through an employer of record, which is a company that legally employs someone in another country on your behalf while they keep doing the same job for you. Once that contract starts, the local employer holds the payroll records, so the confirmation letter comes from there and is written to local expectations. Before it starts, you are still the employer and the letter is yours to write.
The awkward window is the gap between the two. An employee may need proof of income for a flat in, say, Portugal weeks before any local contract exists. There is no clever wording that fixes that gap, but knowing which employer is on the hook on a given date tells you what the letter can honestly say. Our note on moving people without a local entity covers the structures behind that timing.
What should you check before signing?
Start with four questions. Who is the letter for, and what do they actually require? Does every sentence describe something that is true today? Is there any statement about the future, in any wording? And who is the legal employer on the date it is signed?
Then check the practical side. Make sure the person signing has authority to bind the company, keep a copy on the employee file, and put a date on it, because proof of income is usually accepted only if it is recent. If the employee has drafted something for you, rewrite it rather than editing it. It is easier to start from your own words than to spot every commitment buried in someone else's.
If anything in the request looks like a guarantee, take advice before you sign. Teamed employs people in 187+ countries on behalf of other companies, so the confirmation letter comes from the employer that is legally in place at the time. The right answer depends on your employee's situation and the country involved. Talk to an Expert at Teamed to work through yours.