Congratulations! You just hired someone to your church staff and now they’re ready to go, right? Nope. There are several important things you’re likely to forget without a church employee onboarding checklist.

I learned the importance of this years ago when a planter hired a new children’s director but didn’t have an intentional onboarding process. The new hire wasn’t provided information about joining the church health insurance plan until her registration window had passed. She had to wait months until the next annual enrollment to get health insurance!

Or imagine if you were the one hired and a month later you still didn’t show up on the staff page of the church website?

So you don’t find yourself with similar holes in your process, use or adapt this…

Church Employee Onboarding Checklist

Your checklist for onboarding church employees should include at least these items:

• Complete the Federal I9 Form (within three business days of the date employment begins!)
• Have the employee complete a W4 Form
• Give the employee your staff handbook and have them sign an acknowledgement
• Provide and have them sign a job description
• Get them enrolled with your payroll provider, including a time card as appropriate
• Provide them enrollment information for any other benefits, such as health care
• Order any tech they’ll need (laptop, tablet, etc)
• Set up an email account
• Grant them access or admin rights to:
  • Church management software
  • Shared storage (Dropbox, Google Drive, etc)
  • Church calendars
  • Website authoring or editing (as appropriate)
  • Church social media accounts
• Plan out their work calendar for the first 2 weeks (minimum)
• Add them to staff page on the website (which may include headshot & bio)
• Order business cards (?)
• Introduce them to the management at your leased facility and/or get them keys

Not so cut & dried as you thought, huh?! A few of these things could get you into fines or legal trouble if you forget them.

Print It and Use It

Don’t try to wing this or do it from memory. Did you know that brain surgeons use checklists? Every time you hire new staff, print off a copy of your church employee onboarding checklist and check off each item as it’s completed. Yes, on paper.

Add It to Their Personnel File

One of the various reasons to have a good checklist when onboarding employees is to keep a paper trail of the things you did right. Once the checklist is complete, file it in your personnel files in a locked drawer along with copies of their signed paperwork.

Empowering and honoring your new employees will be a breeze with your church employee onboarding checklist.