Onboarding packets, plural, is the problem a small employer has after the third hire: the first packet was assembled carefully, the third was copied from the second with a name changed and a form forgotten. The fix is one list and templates that print with the hire's details: the welcome letter, the contract, the handbook with its acknowledgment page, the tax, payroll and eligibility forms, the equipment record, the first-week schedule, the thirty-day review date. The onboarding checklist on this site prints the list, and the contract tool and handbook template print the documents, free.
The list
Fixed, and in signing order. Every hire gets every line, and a line that does not apply is marked not applicable rather than deleted, so the fourth packet is the same as the first. The checklist on this site is the list.
The templates
The employee contract tool and the employee handbook template on this site print their documents with the hire's name, role, start date and employee ID, so the packet is not a copy of the last hire's. The forms are the government's current versions.
The assembly
Minutes per hire when the list and the templates exist; the welcome email carries the packet and the date to return the signed parts. The date to return the signed parts is the line that gets them back, and the checklist chases it. An assembly that takes an afternoon is one that gets skipped for the fourth hire.
The record
Each hire's packet, signed and dated, kept against them and exportable. HeadcountDesk Pro keeps the packets; the checklist and the tools print them. 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 onboarding packets
Should the packet differ by role?
The list is the same; the contract's terms and the equipment record differ, from the templates.
How do I know a packet is complete?
Every line on the checklist done, which is what the checklist is for.
Is the checklist free?
Yes, without an account.