By the Templateez Team · Licensed Attorney · July 2026

Employee Onboarding Forms: What to Capture on Day One

Day one sets the tone. A disorganized onboarding process — hunting for tax forms, forgetting to collect an emergency contact, missing the equipment checkout — signals to the new hire that the company doesn't have its operations together. A structured onboarding form turns day one from a scramble into a checklist, and ensures nothing falls through the cracks between HR, IT, and the hiring manager.

Personal and Employment Information

Full legal name (as it appears on their ID — this matters for I-9 verification), preferred name, date of birth, Social Security number, address, phone, personal email, and emergency contacts (at least two, with relationship and phone). Employment details: start date, position title, department, reporting manager, employment type (full-time, part-time, temporary), and exempt or non-exempt classification. Our Employee Onboarding form captures all of this in a structured layout that feeds directly into the HRIS.

Tax and Payment Setup

W-4 federal tax withholding (or state equivalent), state withholding form if applicable, and direct deposit authorization — routing number, account number, account type, and the percentage or amount to deposit. Many companies allow split deposits across multiple accounts. The intake should also capture whether the employee is claiming any tax credits or exemptions that affect withholding.

Equipment and Access

What equipment is being issued: laptop, monitor, phone, badge, keys, uniform, vehicle, tools? Serial numbers and asset tags. What systems need access: email, VPN, company software, building access, parking. The onboarding form serves as both a request list for IT and a receipt that the employee acknowledges receiving company property — which matters when the employee eventually offboards.

Policy Acknowledgments

Employee handbook receipt, code of conduct acknowledgment, IT acceptable use policy, confidentiality agreement, non-disclosure agreement, arbitration agreement (if applicable), drug testing consent (if applicable), background check authorization (if not completed pre-hire). Each acknowledgment should have its own signature line with a date. The signed onboarding form goes into the employee's personnel file as proof of receipt.