The employee onboarding email is the first message after the offer and the one that carries the documents, so it has a deadline in it. The contract and the handbook attached for signature, with the date to return them. The start date, the time, the place or the link. Who meets them, what to bring. And a greeting in the manager's own words about why this person. The onboarding checklist on this site carries the email as its first dated line, and the contract tool and handbook template print the attachments, free and without an account.
The attachments and the date
The employee contract tool and the employee handbook template on this site print the contract and the handbook with the hire's name, role, start date and employee ID. The email states the date to return them signed; a document with no return date is returned on the first day, unsigned.
The practical lines
Start date and time, the address or the link, the person who meets them by name, what to bring, and a line saying the detailed first-day schedule follows two days before. Each answers a question the hire would otherwise ask.
The greeting
Two sentences written for this person: what decided the hire, what the first weeks are about. Written fresh each time, because a greeting that could go to anyone reads as if it did. It is the only part of the email the hire will quote back, and the part that cannot be templated.
The record
Sent on the date, with the signed attachments kept against the hire when they return. HeadcountDesk Pro sends the sequence and keeps the documents; the checklist on this site prints the line. From the vendors' own pricing pages, cited below: Homebase lists its Essentials plan at $30 per location per month billed monthly or $24 billed annually, with unlimited employees, and a Basic plan at $0 for one location with up to 10 employees; BambooHR starts at $10 per employee per month for Core and $17 for Pro; Deputy's Core plan is $6.50 per user per month. HeadcountDesk Pro is $24 per month per location.
Questions people ask about employee onboarding email
Should the onboarding email come from HR or the manager?
The manager, in their own name; in a small business there is no HR to hide behind.
What if the documents are not returned by the date?
A reminder on the checklist, and the signature on day one before anything else.
Is the checklist free?
Yes, without an account.