Employee onboarding checklist.
A 4-week onboarding checklist covering pre-boarding, week 1, weeks 2–4, and the 30-day milestone. Built for the manager + the new hire + HR to all see what's coming.
ONBOARDING CHECKLIST — [Company Name] New hire: [Name] Start date: [Date] Manager: [Name] HR partner: [Name] Buddy: [Name] PRE-BOARDING (T-7 days) [ ] Laptop + peripherals ordered Owner: IT [ ] Accounts provisioned (Google, Slack, GitHub, HRIS) Owner: IT [ ] Welcome email sent with day-1 logistics Owner: Manager…
What's inside the document.
Equipment ordered, accounts provisioned, welcome email sent, first-week calendar populated.
Welcome, workspace setup, the team intro round, first-week buddy assigned, role context briefing.
Systems training, manager 1:1 cadence set, intro meetings with key cross-functional partners, first small deliverable.
First proper project, expand the intro circle, attend the company-wide forum, contribute to a meeting.
Manager + new hire run the 30-day review — what's clear, what's not, what to adjust.
Each row has an owner — Manager, HR, IT, Buddy, or New Hire. Nothing is owner-less.
A complete document set.
- Word document (.docx) — fully editable
- PDF — print or share with managers
- Google Docs — one-click copy to your Drive
- 12 months of updates to this document
- Commercial-use licence for internal and client work
Three formats, one document.
- Word document (.docx) — fully editable
- PDF — signature-ready
- Google Docs — one-click copy to your Drive
5 steps from download to use.
- 01Open the checklist when the candidate signs the offer. Replace placeholders for company-name and team-name.
- 02Assign owners for each row before the new hire's start date. Owner-less rows fail.
- 03Share with the new hire's manager, HR partner, IT, and the assigned buddy before day 1.
- 04Tick items as they complete; flag any that are at risk at the weekly check-in.
- 05Run the 30-day check-in with the checklist open as the agenda.
The right document at the right moment.
Use the checklist for every new hire. It is the single most leveraged onboarding document — owners, dates, and items all visible to everyone who has a role to play.
For senior or executive hires, extend the checklist into a 90-day plan using the 30/60/90 template. For contractor or short-term engagements, a pared-down day-1-and-week-1 version is enough.
Honest answers before you download.
- Should HR or the manager own onboarding?
- The manager owns the outcome (the new hire is contributing by day 30). HR owns the process (the checklist runs, the equipment ships, the access provisioned). The buddy owns the relational layer. Three roles, one outcome.
- What if equipment doesn't arrive in time?
- Document the missed item and the recovery plan in the checklist. Don't paper over it. Late equipment is one of the most common day-1 frustrations and is a fixable systemic issue.
- How does this work for remote hires?
- Pre-boarding becomes more important — equipment ships earlier, the buddy does a video call before day 1, the team intro round happens on Zoom. The checklist structure is unchanged; the channels differ.
Other documents in this neighbourhood.
30/60/90 day plan
Forward-looking plan for the new hire's first quarter.
Welcome letter
First-day welcome from the manager.
90-day performance review
The check-in that closes the loop on onboarding.
This employee onboarding checklist template is a professionally drafted starting point and is not legal advice. The clauses follow current US and AU practice; adapt the document for your specific jurisdiction and have qualified counsel review any clauses you add before signing or distributing. Full disclaimer.