--- title: "Experience Letter Format in Word, with a Sample | LekhaHR" description: "Free experience letter format in Word: name, designations, dates and length of service, with a filled sample and a blank template to print as PDF." canonical: https://lekhahr.in/resources/experience-letter-format/ last_updated: 2026-09-30 --- Free template · Word and PDF · updated 30 Sep 2026 # Experience letter format that states the facts, and nothing else. An experience certificate on letterhead, filled in here for Sanjay Mishra, who left Paiteq on Fri 25 Sep 2026, and blank below it. Download it in Word, print it or save it as PDF, or copy the text onto your letterhead. [Download Word (.docx)](https://lekhahr.in/downloads/experience-letter-format.docx) [Request an invite](https://lekhahr.in/request-invite/) Paiteq Technologies Bengaluru, Karnataka - **Ref**: PTQ/EXP/2026/012 - **Date**: Fri 25 Sep 2026 To whom it may concern Subject: Experience certificate This is to certify that Sanjay Mishra worked with Paiteq Technologies as set out below. Employment record - **Name**: Sanjay Mishra - Core factbecause the next employer matches it to PAN and to their offer. Use the name as on PAN. - **Employee code**: PTQ-0087 - Good practicebecause it lets anyone verifying the letter find the right record quickly. - **Designation**: Accounts Executive, Finance - Core factbecause it is what the next employer checks. List earlier designations with their dates if the person was promoted. - **Date of joining**: 6 Mar 2023 - Core factbecause the two dates are the facts the letter exists to certify. - **Last working day**: Fri 25 Sep 2026 - Core factbecause it is the last day worked, not the date the resignation was sent, and it should match the date of exit you mark on the EPFO portal. - **Length of service**: 3 years 6 months - Good practicebecause it saves the reader the arithmetic, and must agree with the two dates above. - **Main responsibilities**: Kept the month-end ledgers for the Finance team, and handed them over in full before he left. - Optionalbecause one or two factual lines help, and opinions belong in a reference, not a certificate. We wish Sanjay well in the years ahead. For [Company name], Meenal Joshi Founder, for Paiteq Technologies Paiteq Technologies [Registered address] · [Phone or email] - **Ref**: [Reference number] - **Date**: [Date of issue] To whom it may concern Subject: Experience certificate This is to certify that [Full name] worked with [Company name] as set out below. Employment record - **Name**: [Full name as on PAN] - Core factbecause the next employer matches it to PAN and to their offer. Use the name as on PAN. - **Employee code**: [Employee code] - Good practicebecause it lets anyone verifying the letter find the right record quickly. - **Designation**: [Last designation], [Department] [Earlier designations and their dates, if any] - Core factbecause it is what the next employer checks. List earlier designations with their dates if the person was promoted. - **Date of joining**: [Date] - Core factbecause the two dates are the facts the letter exists to certify. - **Last working day**: [Date] - Core factbecause it is the last day worked, not the date the resignation was sent, and it should match the date of exit you mark on the EPFO portal. - **Length of service**: [Years and months] - Good practicebecause it saves the reader the arithmetic, and must agree with the two dates above. - **Main responsibilities**: [One or two factual lines] - Optionalbecause one or two factual lines help, and opinions belong in a reference, not a certificate. We wish [First name] well in the years ahead. For [Company name], [Name of the signatory] [Designation], for [Company name] Common practice; no Labour Code requires an experience letter of a small employer · reviewed 30 Sep 2026 No. 01 Field by field --- because the next employer reads it to check dates, not to hear an opinion. ## What to write in each field. An experience letter certifies facts. Every field should be something the employee and the company both agree on. - **01Name**: Core fact because the next employer matches it to PAN and to their offer. Use the name as on PAN. - **02Designation**: Core fact because it is what the next employer checks. List earlier designations with their dates if the person was promoted. - **03Date of joining**: Core fact because the two dates are the facts the letter exists to certify. - **04Last working day**: Core fact because it is the last day worked, not the date the resignation was sent, and it should match the date of exit you mark on the EPFO portal. - **05Employee code**: Good practice because it lets anyone verifying the letter find the right record quickly. - **06Length of service**: Good practice because it saves the reader the arithmetic, and must agree with the two dates above. - **07Main responsibilities**: Optional because one or two factual lines help, and opinions belong in a reference, not a certificate. No. 02 The rule --- because it is practice, not law, and practice still has a right way to do it. ## Is an experience letter mandatory in India? No Labour Code requires an experience letter of a small employer. Standing orders in establishments with 300 or more workers call for a service certificate. Most employers issue one anyway, because the next employer and background checks ask for it. Issue it on the last working day, whatever is still open on the exit checklist. - **Small employer**: not required by a Code because none of the four Labour Codes asks a small employer for an experience letter. - **300 or more workers**: service certificate because standing orders in establishments with 300 or more workers call for a service certificate. - **When to issue it**: on the last day because it waits only for the last day to be reached. Sanjay's ID card was still out on his last day (returned Mon 28 Sep); his letter went out that day. - **What it certifies**: role and dates because a certificate states facts; a reference, if you give one, is a separate letter. No. 03 Questions answered --- because each answer should stand on its own when it is quoted. ## What should an experience letter include? The name, the designations held, the department, the date of joining, the last working day and the length of service, on letterhead, signed and dated. Use the dates on the person's record, the same ones as in their [appointment letter](https://lekhahr.in/resources/appointment-letter-format/) and [joining report](https://lekhahr.in/resources/joining-letter-format/). One or two factual lines on responsibilities are common; opinions belong in a reference. ## What is the difference between an experience letter and a relieving letter? An experience letter certifies the role and length of service to whoever reads it. A [relieving letter](https://lekhahr.in/resources/relieving-letter-format/) is addressed to the employee and confirms the resignation was accepted and the date they were released. Most employers issue both on the last day, with the [full and final settlement](https://lekhahr.in/guides/full-and-final-settlement/) statement. ## When should an experience letter be issued? On the last working day, with the relieving letter, whatever is still open on the exit checklist. An ID card still out is a recovery to handle separately, not a reason to hold the letter. [Exits in LekhaHR](https://lekhahr.in/employee-onboarding-software/) issue both letters once the last day is reached, and never tie them to clearances. No. 04 Common mistakes --- because the letter is read by someone who can't ask you what you meant. ## Five ways an experience letter causes trouble. Each one shows up when the next employer checks it. - **01Holding it until clearances are done**: because a missing ID card or laptop is a recovery to handle separately, not a reason to stop someone joining their next job. - **02Dates that don't match payroll**: because the next employer may check them against PF records; use the dates on the person's record. - **03Opinions in a certificate**: because a certificate states facts. Praise or criticism belongs in a reference, if you give one at all. - **04The resignation date as the last day**: because the last working day is the day the notice ended, not the day it began. - **05No signature, reference or date**: because an unsigned, undated letter can't be checked, and so isn't trusted. No. 05 Questions --- because this is the letter people come back for years later. ## Questions about experience letters ### What if an experience letter has a mistake? Issue a corrected letter with a new reference number and today's date, saying that it replaces the earlier one. Don't alter the original. Keep both on file, so the record shows what was issued and when, and send the corrected copy to the former employee. ### Can an employee ask for an experience letter years later? Yes, and it helps to be able to issue one. Keep the person's dates and designations on their record after they leave, so a letter can be written from the record rather than from memory. Date it the day you issue it, not the day they left. ### Is an experience certificate the same as a service certificate? They certify the same facts: the role and the dates of service. Service certificate is the term standing orders use in establishments with 300 or more workers. Smaller employers usually call the same document an experience letter or an experience certificate. ### Is there an experience letter format in Word? Yes. Download the blank experience letter as a Word (.docx) file, with no email and no sign-up, and put it on your letterhead. You can also copy the text from this page, or print the page to PDF. The filled sample shows the letter completed for one employee. ### Who should sign an experience letter? Someone with authority to speak for the company, usually the HR head, the founder or a director, with their name and designation. Use the company letterhead, a reference number and the date of issue, so the next employer can check the letter with you if they need to. ### Should an experience letter say why the person left? It usually doesn't, and it doesn't need to. Keep the letter to facts both sides agree on: the role, the dates and the length of service. If anything about the exit is disputed, leave it out of the letter and deal with it separately. Invitation ## Available by invitation. In LekhaHR the experience letter is issued with the relieving letter once the last day is reached, from the dates on the person's record, and never tied to clearances. [Request an invite](https://lekhahr.in/request-invite/) [See exits](https://lekhahr.in/employee-onboarding-software/) because a letter issued from the record never disagrees with it.