Onboarding new staff: the first day, week and 90 days

This guide is for the director or board member who will welcome a new employee at a small charity. The paperwork that comes with a first hire (your EIN, payroll registrations, tax deposits and the new-hire report) is covered step by step in hiring your first employee. This guide is about the person: what to collect from them, what to give them, and how to help them settle in during the first 90 days.

Good onboarding costs little. A new person who knows what's expected, who to ask and how they're doing gets a much better start.

Before the first day

• Send a welcome note with the start time, where to go, who will meet them, what to bring and what to wear.
• Say what documents to bring for Form I-9. The I-9 confirms the person can legally work in the US. The form's Lists of Acceptable Documents give the employee choices, for example one List A document, or one from List B plus one from List C. Point them to the lists rather than asking for particular documents.
• Get their workspace ready: a desk or a laptop, an email account, keys, and access to the shared drive and any systems they'll use. Give access only to what the role needs.
• Plan the first week on one page: who they'll meet, what they'll read, and one small, real task they can finish.
• Tell the team, and the board, who is starting and what they'll do.

Day one: the forms

Collect these on the first day. The timing rules are in hiring your first employee; here's the short list.

One more deadline starts on day one: the new-hire report. The federal Office of Child Support Services says federal law requires employers to report basic information on new and rehired employees, within 20 days of hire, to the state where they work, and "some states require it sooner."

Checking I-9 documents remotely

If your new hire works remotely, USCIS allows an optional alternative to looking at their documents in person, but only for employers that "participate in E-Verify in good standing." You look at copies of the documents, front and back, then hold a live video call where the employee shows the same documents, keep clear copies, and tick the box in Section 2 to show you used the alternative. If you offer it at a hiring site, USCIS says you must offer it consistently to everyone at that site; you may offer it only to remote hires, but you can't use it to treat people differently because of citizenship, immigration status or national origin. Otherwise, USCIS says employers "must physically examine documents."

E-Verify is the federal online system that checks Form I-9 information. Its user manual says "E-Verify is a voluntary program," but it's required for employers whose federal contracts call for it, for employers in states whose laws require it, and under a court order. Check whether your state requires it before deciding.

State notices at hire

Some states require you to give new employees written notices when they start. The rules vary a lot, so check your state labor department. One example: New York requires a written notice of pay rate for new hires, given "at time of commitment to hire," with the rate or rates of pay (including any overtime rate), how the person is paid, the regular payday, the employer's official name and main office address and phone number, and any allowances taken against the minimum wage. The notice must be given in English and, if the state offers a translation, in the employee's primary language. The state offers translations in Spanish, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Korean, Polish and Russian.

Some states also require harassment-prevention policies or training for new staff. Our guide to preventing harassment covers New York's rules as an example.

Records to keep

Set up a personnel file for each employee. Keep Forms I-9 together in one folder: USCIS says you must be able to present them within three business days of an inspection request.

For non-exempt employees (those who must be paid overtime), the Department of Labor's Fact Sheet #21 lists what the federal wage law requires you to record, including their full name and Social Security number, address, hours worked each day and each workweek, pay rate, overtime earnings, deductions and total wages each pay period. The law "requires no particular form for the records." Keep payroll records for at least three years, and the records your pay calculations are based on, such as time cards, for two years. Your payroll service may keep some of this for you; make sure you can get it.

Keep each Form I-9 for three years after the date of hire or one year after employment ends, whichever is later.

The first week

• Meet them on arrival. Show them around: the space, the restrooms, the kitchen, how to get in and out, and what to do in an emergency.
• Explain the mission and the people you serve, in your own words. Introduce them to staff, key volunteers and at least one board member.
• Go through the job description together and agree on what success looks like in 30, 60 and 90 days.
• Cover the essentials: working hours and breaks, how to record time if they're non-exempt, how to request leave, how expenses work, and who to tell if they're sick.
• Go through the key policies: personnel policies, conflicts of interest, confidentiality, data privacy, safeguarding if they work with children or vulnerable adults, and how to raise a concern.
• Set up regular check-ins, for example 30 minutes once a week with their supervisor.
• Give them one real task they can finish this week.

The first 90 days

If your personnel policies include an introductory period, check its wording with an employment lawyer who knows your state, since words like "permanent" can create expectations you didn't intend.

Onboarding checklist

• Welcome note sent with start time, place and what to bring
• Workspace, email and system access ready, limited to what the role needs
• Form W-4 and any state withholding form collected
• Form I-9 Section 1 done by day one, Section 2 within 3 business days
• Any state notices given, such as a pay notice
• Personnel file set up, with I-9s kept separately
• Key policies explained and acknowledgment signed
• Buddy named and weekly check-ins scheduled
• 30, 60 and 90-day goals agreed and reviewed