Looking to streamline your hiring process too? Workforce Hire is our new applicant tracking system where you can create job ads, compile applications and resumes, and link straight into Workforce's Employee Onboarding.
What's covered in this guide?
How it works
Employee Onboarding is the fastest way to collect payroll information from new employees. After you send an invitation, the employee completes these steps:
Personal Details: name, email, phone, address, date of birth, gender and emergency contact
Tax and bank details for your country:
UK: Tax Declaration and Bank Details
US: Tax Forms (W-4), I-9 Form and Bank Details. Tax Forms and Bank Details only appear if you use Workforce.com Payroll.
Anything else you add: Contracts, Documents, Qualifications, Additional Details (your onboarding questions), and HR forms, training and surveys
To see what onboarding looks like for employees, visit theEmployee Onboarding landing page.
Send an Onboarding Invitation
Go to Workforce → Employee Onboarding. The Onboard new staff form opens. In the US, Employee Onboarding is under HR.
Step 1: Employee Details
Under Basic Information, enter the employee's First Name, Last Name, Preferred Name and Email. Phone, date of birth and employment start date are optional.
UK only: under Include background checks for this employee?, you can add a Right to Work or Enhanced DBS check.
Under Employment Information, choose their Default Team and any other Teams. You can also choose a Position, Qualifications, Contracts, Documents (including document bundles), and HR forms, training and surveys.
Click Continue.
Step 2: Finalise Contracts
Check the Pay Conditions, Regular Hours and Contracts.
Click Continue.
Step 3: Confirm & Onboard
Check the summary.
Optional: open Add a message for [name] to write a welcome message.
Click Invite to onboarding.
💡 Tip: Always use the employee's legal name, because you'll be collecting employment documents.
💡 Tip: To finish later, click the arrow next to Continue and choose Save and close. You'll find it under Continue onboarding.
How Addresses are Collected During Onboarding
You can now include the employee’s address in contracts without needing to collect it beforehand.
How It Works:
Include the
emp_addressfield in your contract template.Attach the contract to the onboarding invitation, even if the address hasn’t been provided yet.
During onboarding, the employee will be prompted to enter their address before they can sign the contract.
Once entered, the address will be automatically populated into the contract.
This update means you no longer need to collect address details manually before sending onboarding invitations.
After the Employee Completes Onboarding
When the employee clicks Confirm and Finish:
The person who sent the invitation receives an email titled "[Name] has completed onboarding!", with a link to their profile.
To see the information they submitted, go to Staff, choose the employee, then go to HR → Hire & Onboard.
Confirm Onboarding Has Been Sent to Payroll
When onboarding is successfully pushed to your payroll system, a confirmation message will appear on the employee’s profile under the Onboarding tab.
Download a CSV of Onboarding Data
You can export onboarding details for use in other payroll systems.
To export:
Go to Workforce > Staff > Tools > Export > Export Data (CSV)
Customise the Onboarding Process
Contracts
You can ask employees to review and sign their contract during onboarding. Use contract templates to fill in details automatically. Learn more in Create a Contract Template.
By default, employees must sign their contract before they can complete the other onboarding steps. To change this, go to Settings → Onboarding and, under Contracts & Documents, untick Employees must sign contract before onboarding.
Send Documents and Policies
Upload PDF documents (up to 15MB) and group them into Document Bundles to share them easily and track acknowledgements. Your default bundle is selected automatically on new invitations. You can also attach extra PDFs (up to 5MB) to a single invitation under Additional Documents.
Learn more about documents in the Documents and Document Bundles guide.
Add Custom Onboarding Questions
Onboarding questions collect extra information from new starters, such as uniform sizes or licence numbers. Employees see them as the Additional Details step.
To add a question:
Go to Workforce → Employee Onboarding and select Onboarding questions from the side menu.
Click Add question, type your question and save.
Things to know:
Every active question is asked to every new employee, and every question must be answered. You can't make a question optional.
Answers are free text.
To stop asking a question, click Deactivate question. To bring it back, click Activate question. Or click Remove question to delete it.
Employees can change their answers until they finish onboarding. After that, they can't edit them.
To see an employee's answers, go to their profile, then HR → Hire & Onboard → Onboarding questions. Answers are read-only; managers can't edit them.
Request documents and qualifications
Use qualifications to collect certificates and other documents during onboarding.
Open the qualification and tick Request proof of qualification during onboarding.
Add the qualification to the employee's invitation.
The employee then has to upload proof before they can finish onboarding. Learn more in Request Documentation From Employees During Onboarding.
Request Employees Upload Documents
Use the Qualifications feature to request and track important documents, qualifications, or certificates during onboarding.
Please see our guide HERE on how to collect documentation from employees during onboarding as you will need to ensure your account is configured properly.
Control Who Can Send Onboarding Invitations
Control who can send onboarding invitations
By default, these roles can send onboarding invitations:
Admin
Payroll Officer
General Manager
Manager
To change this, go to Settings → Permissions, click Show Advanced Settings, then click Customise access & roles here.
📝 Important to note: Users who can create drafts but not send invitations will see Finalise draft & notify instead of Invite to onboarding.
View onboarding history
Go to Workforce → Employee Onboarding and select Onboarding history from the side menu. You'll see each invitation's status, sent date, completed date and payroll status.
To remind someone, click Send reminder on their row. To remind everyone who hasn't finished, click Send reminders for incomplete onboarding.
To withdraw an invitation, click Cancel.
📝 Important to note: Reminders are sent automatically 1, 3 and 6 days after the invitation. The person who sent it is notified after 7 days if onboarding isn't finished.
FAQs and Troubleshooting
How do I resend an onboarding invitation?
How do I resend an onboarding invitation?
Go to the employee's profile, then HR → Hire & Onboard, and click Send onboarding email.
Why can't the employee click Confirm and Finish?
Why can't the employee click Confirm and Finish?
Every onboarding step must be complete first. If Employees must sign contract before onboarding is on, they need to sign their contract before the other steps unlock.
Can employees change their onboarding answers after they've finished?
Can employees change their onboarding answers after they've finished?
No. They can change their answers until they finish onboarding.
Can employees update their qualifications later?
Can employees update their qualifications later?
Yes, if Allow employees to update qualifications is turned on in Settings → Permissions. Changes need manager approval.
Why can't I see Onboarding questions?
Why can't I see Onboarding questions?
You need permission to create employees and send onboarding invitations.
Can employees update their details after onboarding?
Can employees update their details after onboarding?
Once an employee finishes onboarding, they can't go back into it. To change their details:
The employee can update them through self-service, if it's turned on for your account.
An admin can update them on the employee's profile.