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Unfortunately, small business owners do not always have the luxury of having a fully-staffed Human Resourced department to take care of the hiring and onboarding process for them. This adds a ton of work to your plate if you are a small business owner. Thankfully, there are plenty of resources like this one to tell you all about the required onboarding paperwork to help you keep things above board with your hiring processes before you ever have to worry about employee tracking. Keep reading below for a quick new hire paperwork checklist to make sure you have what you need.
W-4
Obviously, you will need a signed W-4 form from each and every new employee you hire. W-4 forms are required by law. This form is used to determine how much federal income tax will need to be withheld from each employee paycheck. Make sure you obtain a signed W-4 from from every single employee that goes through the onboarding process.
I-9
An 1-9 form is another piece of required onboarding paperwork. I-9 forms help to confirm that your new hires are legally eligible for employment in the United States. Not only will you need to get a signed copy of this form, you will also need to see the documentation that supports it. Thankfully, this piece of new hire paperwork also includes a list of acceptable documents that serve as proof of work eligibility. That simplifies the job for you. Make sure you get an I-9 form and supporting documents from every new employee you onboard so that you will not encounter any issues later if you need payroll funding.
Employee Agreement
You will also want to provide every new employee with an employee agreement. The employee agreement should contain the terms of their employment, like compensation, job responsibilities, PTO polices, benefits and whatever else you need to include. Make sure both you and your new employees sign these employee agreements. Then, make copies for every party involved. This is one part of the onboarding checklist that will help you protect your business. Make sure you complete it.
Insurance Exchange Notice
A fairly recent new hire requirement may accidentally be forgotten by well-intentioned business owners. Since the passing of the Affordable Care Act legislation, you are required by law to inform your employees of the health insurance marketplace that is available. This can be done informally. But however you do it, it is required by law. Make sure you include the health insurance exchange notice somewhere in your onboarding paperwork.
Employee Handbook
You should also include an employee handbook in the paperwork you use for onboarding new employees. This can be a taxing document to create. It must include information on all the policies in use at your business and set all employee expectations clearly. This includes even the seemingly inconsequential policies, like those for your business dress code. After all, every company has different answer to what does business casual mean in 2017? Your handbook is the place to address appropriate attire, conduct and behaviors in the office.
In addition, a well written employee handbook will also help protect your business from any employer liabilities. Make sure you also include a page for the new employees to sign off that they have read and understand everything included in the employee handbook. This is one piece of new hire onboarding that your employees will thank you for.
If you are a small business owner, you know that the onboarding process is a complicated one. But, it does not have to be. Use the onboarding paperwork checklist above to help you simplify the process. The new hire documents above are the ones that are required by law and necessary to protect your business from potential liabilities. Make sure you include these documents in your onboarding process and you and your new employees are sure to be glad you did.
Photo from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/6-important-onboarding-tips-build-employee-engagement-barbara-ashton
