First Week Employee Onboarding Checklist

A first week employee onboarding checklist is the right place for the policy set, because day one is the wrong one.

Spread them across the week in small groups rather than issuing everything at once. Conduct and respect at work first, since those describe how people are expected to behave from the outset. Then safety and incident reporting. Then privacy and information handling. Then the operational ones, leave, expenses, property and remote work.

Acknowledge each group as it is issued, rather than collecting one signature for the lot. An acknowledgement covering fourteen documents read in an afternoon is weak evidence that any of them were understood.

Add one short conversation with the manager at the end of the week. Most early confusion surfaces there.

The Fair Work Ombudsman publishes workplace policy guidance. This is general information rather than legal advice, and obligations vary by state and territory.

See Sentrient’s policy acknowledgement software and HR policy templates.