New Employee Onboarding: The Compliance Checklist
Onboarding a new employee in Australia means handing over the right information statements, collecting tax and super details, checking their right to work, running a safety induction and setting them up in Single Touch Payroll — nearly all of it inside the first week. Miss a step and the consequences run from an awkward conversation to a Fair Work penalty or a super guarantee charge you can't claim as a deduction. Here's the checklist in the order the deadlines actually fall.
Before their first day
Do this in the gap between "yes, I'll take it" and their first shift. It's the cheapest time to fix anything.
| Task | Why it matters | When |
|---|---|---|
| Signed written contract | Sets hours, classification, pay rate, probation and notice. Verbal contracts are legal but useless in a dispute | Before start |
| Right-to-work check (VEVO) | The good-faith defence only exists if you checked before they started | Before start |
| Workers compensation policy | Compulsory in every state once you employ someone | Before first shift |
| Payroll set up in STP software | You report on or before the first payday, not after | Before first pay run |
| Default super fund nominated | You must tell them which fund you'd use before you offer them a choice | Before start |
If this is your first hire, work through the hiring your first employee checklist first — this article picks up once you've made the offer.
Confirm the classification before you confirm the pay
The most expensive onboarding mistake is putting someone in the wrong classification level of their award. It quietly underpays them for years and it compounds. Check the award and the level against the actual duties, not the job title, and write the classification into the contract. Our guides to modern awards and minimum wage and penalty rates cover how to find both.
The national minimum wage is $26.44 an hour, or $33.05 for a casual with the 25% loading (as at September 2026), but most employees sit under an award that pays more.
The information statements you must hand over
These are obligations under the Fair Work Act, not nice-to-haves, and they're free PDFs from fairwork.gov.au. Download a fresh copy each time — they get updated, and a stale version doesn't discharge the obligation.
| Statement | Who gets it | When |
|---|---|---|
| Fair Work Information Statement | Every new employee, no exceptions | Before starting, or as soon as practicable after |
| Casual Employment Information Statement | Every new casual | At the same time, then again at 12 months if you're a small business employer (fewer than 15 employees) |
| Fixed Term Contract Information Statement | Anyone on a fixed term contract | Before, or as soon as practicable after, entering the contract |
Email is fine. What you need is a record of when you sent it, so send it from an address you can search later and keep the sent item.
Note the casual repeat rule. Small business employers give the Casual Employment Information Statement again at 12 months; employers with 15 or more employees give it at 6 months, 12 months and every 12 months after. Set the reminder on day one, because nobody remembers this a year later.
Tax: the TFN declaration, or the newer online version
There are two ways to get an employee's tax details, and the online one is now the default for most businesses.
Option 1 — the ATO New employment form. Your employee logs in to ATO online services through myGov and picks Employment, then New employment. Most of it is pre-filled: residency, study loans, existing super funds. They need your ABN and default fund details to finish it, so send those with the offer, then they print the employee tax and super details summary and give it to you. It replaces both the Tax file number declaration and the Superannuation standard choice form, and must be done within 28 days of starting.
Option 2 — the paper Tax file number declaration (NAT 3092). Still available, still valid. If you report through STP Phase 2-enabled software the tax details flow to the ATO with your pay event, so you don't lodge the declaration separately — you just keep it on file. If you're not on STP Phase 2 software, you have 14 days from the date it's signed to lodge it.
One rule catches people out: if the employee has applied for a TFN but doesn't have it yet, you withhold at their normal rate for 28 days. If they still haven't given you a TFN after that, you must withhold at the top rate. Diarise it.
Super: choice, stapled funds and the payday deadlines
Super is where onboarding has changed most, because payday super started on 1 July 2026.
Offer a choice of fund within 28 days of their start date. Before you offer the choice, you have to tell them which fund you'd pay into if they don't nominate one. Most people just nominate their existing fund and you're done.
If they don't choose, request their stapled fund. You can't jump straight to your default. Log in to ATO Online services for business, go to Employees, then Employee Commencement Form, and enter their name, date of birth, address and TFN. The answer comes back within minutes, and you can ask once they've accepted the offer. Only if the ATO says there's no stapled fund do you use your default.
Then watch the clock. Under payday super, contributions must be received by the fund within 7 business days of payday — not sent, received, so clearing house processing time is your problem. New starters get longer: the first contribution has to land within 20 business days of their first payday, then they're on the standard 7-day rule. There's no grace period and penalties apply from the first late pay cycle. Our payday super guide covers the mechanics.
Two eligibility points. Super guarantee is 12% of qualifying earnings with no minimum monthly income threshold, so even a few hours a week attracts super. The exception is employees under 18, who only qualify in a week where they work more than 30 hours for you — and you can't average those hours across a fortnight or month.
Check their right to work
Use VEVO, the free Visa Entitlement Verification Online service from the Department of Home Affairs, for anyone who isn't an Australian or New Zealand citizen or a permanent resident. Confirm the visa allows the work, note any restriction on hours, and record the expiry date so you can re-check before it lapses.
Employing someone without work rights attracts civil penalties per worker, and they apply even when you didn't know. The Migration Act gives employers a good-faith defence, but only if you sighted and recorded the documents before employment started. Save the VEVO result to their file.
Run a real WHS induction
Under model work health and safety laws, a person conducting a business or undertaking must give workers the information, training, instruction and supervision needed to work safely — and a new worker knows none of your hazards. Do it before they touch anything, and write down that you did.
Cover the hazards specific to your site, safe operating procedures for the equipment they'll use, where first aid gear and exits are, how to report an incident or near miss, and what to do in an emergency. Include psychosocial risks like workload and customer aggression — they sit squarely inside the WHS duty now. It has to be delivered in a way the worker can actually understand, so if English is their second language, adjust.
A signed induction checklist takes ten minutes and is the document a regulator will ask for.
Set up payroll and get the first pay right
Add them to your STP-enabled software with the correct classification, employment type, tax scale and super fund, and check leave accruals are switched on for permanent employees. STP reporting happens on or before payday — see the Single Touch Payroll guide if you're new to it.
Pay slips must go out within one working day of payday, even if the employee is on leave, and must show your name and ABN, their name, the pay period, the payment date, gross and net pay, the hourly rate and hours worked (or the salary), and super contributions.
Then check the first pay by hand before you approve it, comparing the gross against the award rate for their classification including any casual loading, overtime or penalty rates. Underpayment is far cheaper to fix in week one than in year three, and intentional underpayment has been a criminal offence since 1 January 2025. Small business employers who follow the Fair Work Ombudsman's Voluntary Small Business Wage Compliance Code can't be referred for criminal prosecution over an unintentional underpayment — a good reason to read it.
Policies and the records you keep
You don't need a staff handbook, but a few short written policies save arguments: a code of conduct, WHS and incident reporting, leave and rostering, IT and social media, and bullying, harassment and sexual harassment. Hand them over on day one, get a signature, file it.
Since 26 August 2025, small business employees have a right to disconnect — they can refuse to monitor or respond to out-of-hours contact unless that refusal is unreasonable. You can still contact them; you just can't punish them for not answering. Set the expectation in writing at the start.
Fair Work requires time and wage records to be kept for seven years from the date each record is made, in English, legible, and produced on request from the employee or a Fair Work inspector. Keep the contract, information statements with send dates, TFN declaration or ATO summary, super choice and stapled fund records, VEVO evidence, induction checklist, signed policies and every pay slip.
One piece of context for the probation period: for small business employers, the minimum employment period before an employee can claim unfair dismissal is 12 months, not the 6 months that applies to larger employers. Probation clauses don't change that — follow the Small Business Fair Dismissal Code if things don't work out.
Key takeaways
- Give every new employee the Fair Work Information Statement before they start or as soon as practicable after, plus the casual or fixed term statement if it applies, and record the send date.
- Get tax and super details through the ATO New employment form in myGov, or a paper TFN declaration you keep on file; the 28-day TFN and super choice deadlines both start on day one.
- If they don't nominate a fund, request their stapled fund from ATO Online services for business before defaulting to your own.
- Under payday super, the first contribution must reach the fund within 20 business days of the first payday and every one after within 7 business days (as at September 2026).
- Do a VEVO check and a documented WHS induction before the first shift — both only work as a defence if they happened before work started.
- Keep time and wage records for seven years, and hand-check the first pay against the award before approving it.
Where to get help
- Fair Work Ombudsman (fairwork.gov.au) — free information statements, award pay tools and the Voluntary Small Business Wage Compliance Code. Small Business Helpline: 13 13 94.
- ATO (ato.gov.au) — hiring a new worker, the New employment form, stapled super fund requests and payday super. Business enquiries: 13 28 66.
- Department of Home Affairs (immi.homeaffairs.gov.au) — free VEVO checks for employers.
- Your state WHS regulator — SafeWork NSW, WorkSafe Victoria, Workplace Health and Safety Queensland and the rest publish free induction templates.
- Your accountant or BAS agent for payroll, STP and super setup, and an employment lawyer or HR adviser if the classification, visa status or contract terms are unclear. One hour of advice now is far cheaper than a back-pay claim.
Frequently asked questions
What paperwork do I need for a new employee in Australia?
You need a signed employment contract, a Tax file number declaration (or the employee's ATO New employment form summary), super fund details via a Superannuation standard choice form, bank account details, emergency contacts, and evidence of the right to work if they're not an Australian citizen or permanent resident. You also have to give them the Fair Work Information Statement, plus the Casual Employment Information Statement if they're casual or the Fixed Term Contract Information Statement if they're on a fixed term contract.
When do I have to give a new employee the Fair Work Information Statement?
Before they start, or as soon as practicable after they start. It's a legal obligation under the Fair Work Act for every new employee, and emailing the current PDF from fairwork.gov.au is enough as long as you record the date you sent it. Casuals get the Casual Employment Information Statement at the same time, and again at 12 months if you're a small business employer with fewer than 15 employees.
How do I find a new employee's super fund if they don't choose one?
Request their stapled super fund from the ATO. Log in to Online services for business, go to Employees, then Employee Commencement Form, and enter their name, date of birth, address and TFN. You get an answer within minutes. You can only make the request once they've accepted your offer, and you must have already offered them a choice of fund. If the ATO says there's no stapled fund, you pay into your own default fund.
How long do I have to pay super for a new employee?
The first contribution must reach their fund within 20 business days of their first payday, and every contribution after that within 7 business days of payday (as at September 2026). Payday super started on 1 July 2026, so quarterly payments are no longer an option and there's no grace period for being late. The 20-business-day window exists precisely to give you time to sort out fund details for a new starter.
Do I have to check a new employee's right to work in Australia?
Yes, if there's any chance they're not an Australian or New Zealand citizen or a permanent resident. Use the free VEVO service from the Department of Home Affairs to confirm their visa allows the work you're offering and note any hour limits or expiry date. Employing someone without work rights carries civil penalties per worker, and doing a documented check before they start is what gives you the good-faith defence.
General information only. This guide doesn't take your personal or business circumstances into account and isn't financial, legal or tax advice. Rates and thresholds change — check the official sources linked in this guide and get qualified advice where your circumstances require it.