A new employee welcome packet has a signing half and a settling-in half, and the order matters: the documents first, because they have deadlines, then the rest, because it is what the hire actually reads on the first evening. The contract, the handbook with its acknowledgment page, the tax, payroll and eligibility forms, the equipment record. Then the welcome letter, the first-week schedule, the team by name with a line about each, the buddy's name. The onboarding checklist on this site prints the list, and the contract tool and handbook template print the documents, free.
The signing half
Returned by the date in the welcome email: the contract and the handbook acknowledgment from the tools on this site, the government's forms, and on day one the equipment record signed on receipt. Each dated and kept against the hire.
The settling-in half
The schedule for the week, who they will meet and what each does, where things are, the buddy, a note from the owner. Not filed as a record; read as a welcome. It is written for this person, with their team and their first task, which is why it cannot be printed from a template and should not be.
Per hire, from the templates
The employee contract tool and the employee handbook template print with the hire's name, role, start date and ID, so the packet is theirs rather than the last hire's with a name changed. A packet printed from the templates is complete by construction; one copied from the last packet is complete by luck.
The record
The signing half against the hire, exportable. HeadcountDesk Pro keeps it; the checklist and the tools print it. 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 new employee welcome packet
Should the packet go out before day one?
The signing half, yes, with the welcome email; the settling-in half two days before the start.
What is most often missing?
The handbook acknowledgment page; the contract gets signed because pay depends on it.
Is the checklist free?
Yes, without an account.