New Employee Information Form

This free new employee information form gives a US small business one place to record a new hire’s personal details, job details and emergency contacts. It’s an employee information form and an emergency contact form in one, with a tracker for the government forms it doesn’t replace. It also keeps out the things that don’t belong on it, like health details and Social Security numbers.

What you get

A five-page PDF, sized for US Letter paper, and an editable Word file:

• Pages 1–2: the blank form to print and fill in.
• Pages 3–4: the same form completed for a fictional auto repair shop, so you can see how each part works.
• Page 5: notes on the government forms, medical information and privacy, with links to the sources.

Page one has the employee’s details, the job details you fill in (title, manager, first day, employment type, pay basis, rate and schedule) and a tracker for Form I-9, Form W-4, state withholding, the new hire report and direct deposit. Page two covers emergency contacts, a reminder about health details, the keys and equipment you hand over, set-up notes, and signatures.

What a good employee information form includes

• Contact details that stay current. Legal name for payroll, the name they go by, and how they like to be reached.
• Job details from you, not the employee. Pay basis (hourly or salaried, exempt or non-exempt), rate and schedule should match the offer letter.
• Emergency contacts, marked optional. Say what you’ll use them for and that you keep them private.
• No health questions. If an employee wants first aid staff to know about a condition, they can tell a named manager.
• No duplicate tax data. The W-4 already collects the Social Security number.
• A record of what you issued. Keys, uniforms, tools and logins, so you can check them back in when someone leaves.

How to use the new employee information form

1. When the offer is accepted, fill in the job details and your company name.
2. Send the form with your welcome letter, or hand it over on the first day.
3. On day one, collect it with Section 1 of Form I-9, Form W-4 and any state forms. Tick each one off in the tracker.
4. Complete Section 2 of the I-9 within 3 business days, and report the hire to your state.
5. Record keys, uniforms and logins as you hand them over.
6. File the signed form in the employee’s personnel file, and work through the rest of your new hire checklist.

Completed example

The example in the download is for a lube and tire technician starting on a Monday at a fictional auto repair shop in Ohio. The employee gives his address and contact details and lists his sister and a friend as emergency contacts. The service manager fills in the hourly, non-exempt pay basis and the schedule. The tracker shows the I-9, W-4 and state forms done on the first day and the new hire report sent that week. A key, uniforms and a time clock login are logged as issued, and his set-up notes mention a dentist appointment he’d already booked.

New employee forms this doesn’t replace

People often search for “new employee forms” expecting one document. In practice there are several, and the government ones come from the agencies:

• Form I-9: verifies identity and permission to work in the US, for every person you hire (USCIS). The employee completes Section 1 no later than their first day of work for pay (USCIS).
• Form W-4: tells you how much federal income tax to withhold (IRS). The IRS says to ask every new employee for a signed W-4 when they start work (IRS).
• State withholding form: some states have their own, for example California’s DE 4 (EDD).
• State new hire report: federal law requires you to report new and rehired employees to the state where they work within 20 days of hire, and some states require it sooner (HHS).

Employee emergency contact form

Page two works on its own as an employee emergency contact form. Print it for your current staff too, so everyone’s file has the same details. Keep it short: a name, the relationship and two ways to reach each contact. Make it optional, say how you’ll use it, and keep it where only managers who need it can see it. Ask everyone to update it once a year.

Keeping medical information out

If you have 15 or more employees, the EEOC says any medical information you legally obtain about an employee must be kept confidential and in a separate medical file (EEOC). Once someone is employed, disability-related questions must be job-related and consistent with business necessity (29 CFR 1630.14). That’s why the form has no questions about health, allergies or medications. If an employee volunteers something, file it separately.

When to get advice

Get advice before you onboard someone in a state where you haven’t hired before, or a remote employee who lives in another state. The new hire report goes to the state where the person works, and state withholding forms and posters differ, so the forms you’re used to may not apply.

Not sure which new hire forms your state requires? That’s what hrsupport.io is for: HR answers for your state, with the law behind every answer.