Every budding entrepreneur has this milestone in mind: hiring the company’s first employee. There’s a certain excitement that comes with the first hire, a certain realization that the business really has potential.
After all, you can’t really call something a business until you as the entrepreneur are able to separate yourself from its daily operations if need be. When you hire your first employee, that’s exactly what happens.
However, hiring your first employee brings on a whole load of legal complications that you have to bear in mind. Using an employment check list will help you to ensure that you do all the right things as you navigate this exciting but also complicated time.
In this article, we’ll provide you with exactly that kind of checklist.
- Create an Onboarding Process
Before you hire your first employee, you should know what they’re going to do at the company and how they will fit in. Then, you need to devise a plan to impart that information to them.
That is exactly where an onboarding process comes in. Build out an onboarding process that will showcase to your employee your company’s values, system of operations, and how they fit in with the big picture.
- Get an Employer Identification Number
The next thing to do is to obtain an employer identification number from the Internal Revenue Service. You’ll need to file the form S-44 to do so, which can be downloaded from the IRS website. This EIN will be needed all of your payroll documentation.
- Register with the Labor Department
The next step is to visit your state’s local labor department to register your business with them. You may be able to do this online if your state has such facilities, so make sure to Google your state’s labor process before making the trip out.
- Set up a Payroll System
Having employees means that you now have a payroll to keep track of. Use payroll software to make your life much easier. You’ll also need a pay stub maker that will issue pay stubs to your employees digitally.
In the technological age that we live in, there’s no reason to still opt for a paper-based pay stub strategy when Internet options exist. Click here to learn more.
- Get Documentation from the Employee
Last but not least, make sure that you get all of the documentation that you need from the employee. This will include work authorization if they are a foreign national, their W-2 so you can include the appropriate number of withholdings on their pay stub, and the like.
Your First Employment Check List
There you have it — an employment check list to help you hit the ground running with your first hire. Congratulations on making it this far as an entrepreneur. Big things are in store and we wish you the best!
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