Remote onboarding is ordinary onboarding with the office removed, and what the office was doing silently now has to be done on purpose: the handbook acknowledged, the contract signed, the equipment shipped and confirmed, the accounts created, the first week scheduled, the people introduced, the check-in booked. The onboarding checklist on this site prints the list sized to the role, free and without an account; the paid product keeps the signed documents against the employee.
Before day one
Offer accepted, contract signed, handbook acknowledged, tax and payroll forms complete, equipment ordered to the home address, accounts created with access on the start date. The employee contract tool and the employee handbook template on this site print the first two.
Day one
Equipment confirmed working, a video call with the manager, the week's schedule shared, the team introduced, the first task assigned. A remote first day with no scheduled call is a day the hire spends waiting.
The first month
A buddy, a daily check-in for the first week and a weekly one after, the training recorded, and the thirty-day review booked on day one. The employee review template on this site prints the review. A remote hire's first month is the one where silence is mistaken for competence, so the check-ins are booked rather than hoped for.
The records
Signed contract, acknowledged handbook, completed forms, equipment record, training record, review dates. The same records as an office hire, which is the point. HeadcountDesk Pro keeps them per employee. 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 remote onboarding
Do remote hires need a handbook?
Yes, and the acknowledgment matters more, because the handbook is the office they do not have.
How is equipment tracked?
A record per item against the employee, signed for on receipt; the onboarding checklist carries the line.
Is the checklist free?
Yes, without an account.