Employee Onboarding Checklist

Route the offer letter, at-will acknowledgment, NDA, and IP assignment for e-signature in DocuSign or your HRIS (BambooHR, Rippling, Gusto). Confirm the comp band, level, and FLSA classification (exempt vs. non-exempt) match what the hiring manager approved — misclassification at offer time is hard to unwind later.

Send the FCRA disclosure and authorization (separate standalone document — not buried in the application) through Checkr, Sterling, or HireRight. Honor ban-the-box timing in NY, CA, CO, MA, IL, NJ, MD where criminal-history inquiry is gated until after a conditional offer.

Send the pre-adverse-action notice with a copy of the consumer report and the CFPB Summary of Rights. Wait at least 5 business days for the candidate to dispute before issuing the final adverse-action notice. Skipping the two-step is the most common FCRA class-action trigger.

Section 1 of Form I-9 must be completed by the end of the employee's first day of work. Include the federal W-4, the state withholding form (e.g., DE-4 in CA, IT-2104 in NY), and the direct-deposit form. Provide the List A / List B + C document guidance so the new hire arrives with the right IDs.

Send the handbook, anti-harassment policy, code of conduct, and social-media policy for acknowledgment. Confirm the handbook has been reviewed against current NLRB guidance — confidentiality and social-media clauses are repeatedly struck down as overly broad.

Examine original (not photocopied) List A or List B + C documents and complete Section 2 within 3 business days of the start date. For remote hires, designate an authorized representative or use the DHS alternative remote procedure if your organization is E-Verify-enrolled and in good standing.

E-Verify is mandatory for private employers above thresholds in AZ, AL, MS, GA, NC, SC, TN, and UT, and for federal contractors. Cases must be created within 3 business days of the start date. Tentative Non-Confirmations require employee notice and an 8-federal-working-day contest window.

Enter the employee in Gusto, Rippling, ADP, or Paycom with the correct FLSA status, pay rate, pay frequency, and direct-deposit details. Verify the W-4 federal and state withholdings flow through to the first pay run before the cutoff.

Distribute workers' comp notice, paid sick leave notice, unemployment insurance notice, EEO-is-the-Law, OSHA whistleblower, and any state-specific wage-theft notice (CA Labor Code 2810.5, NY Wage Theft Prevention Act). Document delivery in the personnel file.

Review medical, dental, vision, HSA/FSA, STD/LTD, life, and EAP options. New-hire enrollment window is typically 30 days from start; missing it forces the employee to wait for open enrollment or a QLE. Provide SBCs and the SPD per ERISA.

Walk through deferral percentage, Roth vs. traditional, employer match, and vesting schedule. If the plan auto-enrolls, confirm the employee received the QDIA notice and understands the opt-out window.

Cover PTO accrual rate, carryover caps, payout-on-termination rules (CA treats accrued vacation as wages — no use-it-or-lose-it), and state paid sick leave accrual where applicable.

Confirm the hiring manager has documented goals, ramp expectations, and 1:1 cadence in Lattice or 15Five. Schedule the HR 30-day check-in on the calendar now.

CA requires 1 hour for non-supervisors and 2 hours for supervisors within 6 months of hire (biennial after); NY, IL, CT, DE, ME require completion within similar windows. Track completion in the LMS — missing the cadence is itself the violation.

Verify elections submitted before the 30-day window closes. If the employee has not enrolled, send a final reminder before lockout — late enrollment after window close requires a QLE.

Cover onboarding experience, open HR questions, manager relationship, and any accommodation needs. Document any ADA accommodation requests and start the interactive process the same day — manager-only handling of accommodation requests is a frequent legal exposure.

Store I-9s separately from the personnel file (ICE audit best practice). Medical and benefits documents go in a confidential file separate from general HR records per ADA and HIPAA.

Pull completion records from the LMS for harassment prevention, anti-discrimination, data security, and ethics. Document gaps and assign completion deadlines.

Verify the manager has a review on the calendar in Lattice, 15Five, or your performance system. Align on rating scale and calibration cadence so the first review is not a surprise.

Update headcount, source-of-hire, and quality-of-hire metrics in the HRIS. Add the employee to the engagement-survey distribution and confirm benefits coverage is active.