New Employee Onboarding Checklist and Paperwork

The paperwork checklist, with deadlines

The first four rows apply to almost every employer. The rest depend on where the employee works, how many people you employ and which benefits you offer.

New-hire paperwork and when it is due
Item	Deadline	Who it applies to	Source
Form I-9, Section 1 (employee information)	Employee completes and signs it no later than the first day of work. They may do it any time after accepting the job offer.	Every new employee, including US citizens	USCIS
Form I-9, Section 2 (you review their documents)	Within 3 business days of the first day of work for pay. A Monday start means Thursday. If the job lasts less than 3 business days, by the first day.	Every new employee	USCIS
Federal Form W-4 (tax withholding)	Ask for it when the employee starts, so the first paycheck withholds correctly.	Every new employee	IRS Publication 15
State new-hire report	Within 20 days of hire under federal law. Some states are stricter, for example Georgia (10 days) and Massachusetts (14 days).	Every new employee, and rehires who were gone 60 days or more	HHS Office of Child Support Services
State withholding form	At the start, alongside the W-4.	Employees in states with their own form, for example California's DE 4	California EDD
E-Verify case	No later than the third business day after the employee starts work for pay, using the completed Form I-9.	Employers enrolled in E-Verify, including those a state or a federal contract requires to use it	E-Verify
California wage notice (Labor Code 2810.5)	At the time of hire.	Nonexempt employees in California	California Legislature
New York wage notice (Labor Law 195.1)	At the time of hiring, in English and the employee's primary language, with a signed and dated acknowledgment you keep for six years.	Employees in New York	NY Senate
Written sexual harassment prevention policy	At hire in New York. California requires a written prevention policy distributed to employees.	Employees in New York and California, among other states	NY Senate
COBRA general notice	Within the first 90 days of health plan coverage. The plan administrator sends it, often inside the summary plan description.	Group health plans of employers with 20 or more employees	US Department of Labor
FMLA general notice	In your handbook if you have one, otherwise handed to each new employee at hire.	Employers covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) that have eligible employees	29 CFR 825.300

Details for each item: Form I-9 and E-Verify, new hire reporting, when you need to offer COBRA and whether you need a handbook.

Before day one

Send the offer letter and get it signed. Once the offer is accepted, the new hire can complete Section 1 of the Form I-9.
Send the W-4 and any state withholding form, plus direct deposit and emergency contact forms, so payroll is ready before the first pay date.
Decide who will look at the I-9 documents and where. The review normally happens in person, by you or an authorized representative. If you use E-Verify and are in good standing, you may use the DHS remote examination procedure instead.
Send the state wage notice where one applies (California, New York) and the written harassment policy where one is required.
Order the laptop and any equipment, and request the accounts the person needs (email, chat, the tools for their role), so they work on day one.
Write a simple first-week plan: who they meet, what they read, and one small task they can finish.

Day one

Confirm Section 1 of the Form I-9 is complete and signed. It is due today at the latest.
Review the I-9 documents if you can. The employee chooses which acceptable documents to show. You cannot ask for a specific one.
Hand over equipment and check that every login works.
Walk through pay: pay schedule, how hours are recorded if the job is nonexempt, and who to ask about a pay problem.
Share the handbook or core policies and collect the signed acknowledgment.
Introduce the manager and a go-to colleague for questions.

The first week and the first month

Day 3 (business days): Section 2 of the Form I-9 is complete. If you use E-Verify, the case is created by the same day.
Within your state deadline: file the new-hire report. Put the date in the calendar on the day of hire: 10 days in Georgia, 14 in Massachusetts, 20 in most other states.
Benefits: enrollment forms out, and if the employee joins a group health plan at an employer with 20 or more employees, the plan administrator sends the COBRA general notice within 90 days of coverage starting.
File everything: keep the Form I-9 for the required retention period, and the New York wage notice acknowledgment for six years.
End of week one: a short check-in with the manager on what is going well and what is missing.

Common mistakes

Asking for a specific document for the Form I-9, such as a passport. The employee picks from the lists of acceptable documents.
Skipping the Form I-9 for a US citizen or for someone who works remotely. Every employee hired in the US needs one. Independent contractors do not.
Using the federal 20-day window everywhere. Georgia and Massachusetts are shorter, so a report filed on day 18 can already be late.
Forgetting rehires. Someone who was gone for 60 consecutive days or more counts as a new hire for state reporting.
Forgetting that a wage notice has to stay accurate. In California, a change to the notice details must be given to the employee in writing within 7 calendar days, unless it appears on the pay stub or another required document.

Common questions

Can a new hire fill out the Form I-9 before their first day?

Yes, Section 1. The employee may complete it any time after accepting the job offer, and no later than the first day of work. Section 2 is due within 3 business days of that first day.

Do I need a Form I-9 for independent contractors?

No. USCIS says you do not complete a Form I-9 for independent contractors or for workers supplied by a staffing agency, which completes it for its own employees. Make sure the person is really a contractor first: see contractor vs employee.

Does a copy of the W-4 count as the new-hire report?

In many states it can. The federal W-4 collects most of the required details, and the IRS notes that many states accept a copy with the employer information added. Check your state, because some ask for extra fields.

Do small employers have to send a COBRA general notice?

Federal COBRA generally applies to group health plans of employers with 20 or more employees. Smaller employers may have state continuation rules instead. See when you need to offer COBRA.

How MambaHR handles this

MambaHR sends the new-hire forms and follows up until they come back, starts the Form I-9, requests logins and a laptop from IT, and sets the first-week plan. Requests arrive in Slack or through a web request form, a person approves the decisions that matter, and every change is logged.

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Sources

Last reviewed October 2, 2026. This page is general information, not legal advice. Laws change and exceptions apply, so check the sources above or an employment lawyer before you act on a specific case.