What you were promised at interview is not what the contract says

The terms are agreed at the interview.

“We can match the number you asked for, and two days from home is fine.”

You start, and the contract comes through. The salary is right. There is nothing about working from home. When you ask, you get this:

“That was always going to depend on what the team needed.”

The terms are agreed out loud. The contract arrives after you have already started.

What thirteen countries require in writing

These are the countries we checked. Ireland, Germany, France and Brazil are not included. The US sets these rules state by state, and Canada and Australia by province or state, so we have used representative jurisdictions.

The deadlines differ. What none of these systems requires is a record of what was said at the interview.

Countries that make writing compulsory

New Zealand is the strictest of the ones we looked at. An individual employment agreement must be in writing, and the employer must retain a signed copy (Employment Relations Act 2000, section 65). A labour inspector can issue an infringement notice, and the Employment Relations Authority can order a penalty.

England and Wales require a written statement of particulars for every employee and worker on or before the first day of employment (Employment Rights Act 1996, section 1, as amended with effect from 6 April 2020). Failing to provide it is not a claim on its own. If you win another claim, the tribunal must add two weeks’ pay, or four weeks’ pay where that is just and equitable (Employment Act 2002, section 38).

Italy implemented the EU transparency directive in 2022: the essential information goes to the worker in writing before work begins, the rest within seven days, with an administrative penalty of €250 to €1,500 per worker for failure.

Spain transposed the same directive in a royal decree published on 15 September 2026, in force from 5 October 2026. The general information must be given before the employment relationship starts, and it now extends to the use of algorithmic or automated systems that make decisions affecting working conditions.

India made appointment letters mandatory under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code 2020, and the labour codes came into force on 21 November 2025.

Countries where nothing has to be written down

Australia does not require a written employment contract. A job offered verbally, accepted, and followed by work and wages is generally a binding contract, and the National Employment Standards apply whatever the contract says. What the employer must hand over is the Fair Work Information Statement at the start of employment.

Ontario is the same on contracts: employment can rest on a verbal agreement or on conduct, and the Employment Standards Act applies regardless. Ontario has moved on the advertising side instead. From 1 January 2026, employers with 25 or more employees must include expected compensation, or a compensation range, in publicly advertised job postings. A range cannot span more than $50,000 a year, and postings above $200,000 are exempt.

The United States has no general requirement for a written employment contract, and employment is at will in most states. Some states regulate the wage information specifically: California requires a written notice of pay rate at hiring (Labor Code section 2810.5), and New York requires a written wage notice with the employee’s acknowledgment (Labor Law section 195(1)).

Two countries that police the job advert itself

South Korea prohibits changing the deal after hiring. An employer may not, without justifiable reason, change the working conditions stated in the job advert to the applicant’s disadvantage after hiring them (Fair Hiring Procedure Act, article 4), on penalty of an administrative fine of up to ₩5 million. The Act applies to workplaces with 30 or more employees.

Japan regulates the moment the terms change. Employers must state working conditions when recruiting, and where the conditions first stated change during the hiring process, the change itself must be stated to the applicant. Since April 2024 the scope of possible future changes to the workplace and the duties, and any cap on renewals of a fixed-term contract, must also be stated.

If it is not in the contract, who has to prove it?

In most of these countries, the employee who says a different term was agreed has to prove it — and an interview leaves nothing behind.

Chile reverses that. The employer must put the contract in writing within 15 days of the worker starting, or five days for short or task-specific contracts. If they do not, the terms the worker states are legally presumed to be the terms of the contract (Labour Code, article 9), and the employer faces a fine of one to five monthly tax units.

Mexico requires the terms in writing in two copies (Federal Labour Law, articles 24 and 25) and provides that the absence of that writing does not deprive the worker of their rights, because the failure of formality is attributed to the employer (article 26).

What you can do when the paperwork does not match

South Korea and Japan have the same mechanism. Where the stated working conditions differ from the facts, the worker may terminate the contract immediately — in Korea also claiming damages, which can be applied for through the Labour Relations Commission (Labour Standards Act, article 19); in Japan under article 15(2) of the Labour Standards Act. In both countries, a worker who moved house for the job gets their travel costs home from the employer: in Japan where they return within 14 days of termination (article 15(3)), in Korea where the contract is terminated for this reason.

In the United States, the route is promissory estoppel rather than a statute. Even in at-will employment, a clear promise, reasonable reliance and real detriment — resigning another job, turning down an offer, relocating — can support a claim. Emails showing the employer knew you were relying on the promise are what make the difference.

Every one of these depends on the same thing: being able to show what you were actually told.

So, after the interview

Save the job advert. Postings come down when the role is filled. A screenshot taken the day you applied is what you point at later when someone says those terms were never offered.

Send a short message the same day. “Confirming what we discussed: £X, two days remote, start date the 3rd. Happy to see that reflected in the contract.” Even with no reply, there is now a record of how the offer was understood when it was made — and in the United States, the kind of record that supports reliance.

If it only happens out loud, a recording is the record. Interviews and offer calls rarely leave a paper trail. In most US states and in India a person taking part in a conversation may record it; California and some other states require everyone’s consent (is it legal to record a conversation you’re in?, which states are strict). The practical problem is that a candidate cannot easily ask “do you mind if I record this?”

TalkSafe is an Android voice recorder that starts recording when it hears a word you set in advance. Keywords are recognised whoever says them, so you can set the words that come up when terms are discussed. It works with the screen locked and saves the 30 seconds before it started, so the moment the numbers come up is not the part you miss.

Why the original file and the opening seconds matter once a recording is used as evidence is in you have the recording, you still may not be able to use it. The wider problem of a spoken agreement meeting a written one is in it is not in the contract, it was agreed in the meeting.

What this comes down to

• A verbal offer can be a contract, but if the written terms differ, the employee has to prove what was agreed.
• England and Wales, New Zealand, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Chile and India require written terms. Australia, Ontario and most US states do not.
• Ontario now regulates pay in the advert; South Korea prohibits worsening advertised conditions after hiring.
• Chile presumes the worker’s version when no written contract is produced in 15 days.
• Screenshot the advert, confirm the terms by message the same day, and where it is lawful, record the conversation you are part of.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Speak to a lawyer about your own situation.