A welcome letter is the first document a new hire receives after the offer, and it does two jobs at once: it makes them glad they said yes, and it carries the contract and the handbook to sign. The start date and time, the place or the link, who will meet them, what to bring, what is attached and when to return it, and a sentence about why they were hired. The onboarding checklist on this site carries the letter as its first line, free and without an account; the contract tool and the handbook template print the attachments.
The welcome
Two or three sentences in the manager's own words: why they were chosen, what the team is looking forward to, what the first weeks will be about. Written each time; a welcome that reads as a template is not one.
The practical lines
Start date and time, where to go or which link, who meets them, what to bring, what has been ordered for them, what accounts will be ready. The lines that remove the first-day questions. Each line answers a question the hire would otherwise ask on the morning, or not ask and get wrong.
The attachments
The contract and the handbook, with the date to return them signed, and the tax and payroll forms. The employee contract tool and the employee handbook template on this site print the first two. Returned signed before day one, so the first shift starts with the paperwork done and the record open.
The record
The letter is kept with the signed attachments against the hire. HeadcountDesk Pro keeps it; the checklist on this site starts there. 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 welcome letter
Email or paper?
Email, with the attachments for online signature; the letter is kept either way.
Who signs the welcome letter?
The manager the hire will report to.
Is the checklist free?
Yes, without an account.