New Hire - Before First Day Checklist

This checklist ensures you won’t miss a beat as it helps you organize paperwork, get prepared prior to the first day, and also helps your staff get ready to welcome new team members.

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Get ahead of the game by:

Submitting all employment documents within deadlines to avoid legal implications
Focusing on the most important things once your new hire arrives
Making new hires feel more comfortable and eager to start
Creating a friendly, collaborative environment that allows current employees to prepare for the new welcome

Use the following new hire checklist as a reminder of tasks to do before your new employee’s first day.

New hire checklist: Paperwork to complete

Prepare an employment contract, and receive it back signed. This contract is usually written as a detailed job offer that includes:

Job information (job title, department)
Work schedule
Length of employment
Compensation and benefits
Employee responsibilities
Non-disclosure agreement
Non-compete agreement
Time off policy
Termination conditions

Send an offer letter describing the relationship between employer and employee. In your job offer letter or email, include:

Job title
Department
Name and position of direct report
Work schedule
Start date
Compensation
Benefits (brief mention)
Length of employment
Date by which candidate needs to respond to your offer

You may also attach the employment contract, where you describe terms of employment in detail.

Complete employment forms required by your country or state law. The most common types of forms new hires fill out are:

W-4 form
I-9 form
State tax withholding form
Employee invention agreement form
Direct deposit form
Benefits forms (e.g. health insurance agreement)

Tasks to do before a new hire’s first day

Ask new hires to send you:

Personal data to enter into company HRIS (e.g. ID or passport number, contact details, SSN number, tax identification number)
Bank account information for direct deposit
Copies of certificates and diplomas that are necessary to perform the job (e.g. for CPA or legal positions)
Meal preferences and food allergies if you offer food services

Send new hires a welcome email that includes:

When to arrive
Office directions
Dress code
First day or week’s agenda

Invite new hires to join corporate accounts, including:

Email
Messaging software (e.g. Slack)
HRIS
Productivity tools (e.g. Asana)
Password security (e.g. LastPass)

Announce new hire arrival to employees for a warm welcome.

Email new hire’s manager to send a chat message announcing the new employee on their start date (e.g. on Slack,) Make sure to mention:

New hire’s name and job title
Department/team they’ll be joining
A few things about their professional or academic background
Welcome events you may have organized (e.g. an after-work dinner)

Email hiring managers to prepare new employee’s first-day tasks.

Send new hire’s data to your:

The accounting department, so that they add a new employee to payroll
IT team, so that they can help them set up accounts for corporate software
Office Manager, so that they can set up their workstation

Prepare your new hire’s tech, including:

Laptop
Monitor
Phone
Mouse
Keyboard
Headset

Arrange for new hire’s ID card, building access fob and personal locker.
Order new employee’s business cards and/or nameplates.
Ask for the new hire’s T-shirt size and place an order for a work uniform and/or a company T-shirt as a welcome gift.

Prepare and send an onboarding kit. Here’s what you could include: