What is in a new-hire packet, and why it is painful
Every new employee produces the same stack, and every stack has to be complete before the first paycheck. A typical packet holds:
- the signed offer letter;
- Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, and copies of the identity documents if you keep them;
- Form W-4, plus a state withholding form in many states;
- a direct deposit authorization;
- benefits enrollment or waiver forms;
- signed acknowledgments: the handbook, IT use, confidentiality and other policies.
The pain is not the reading. It is that the stack arrives in pieces, on different days, some on paper and some by email, often filled in by hand, full of Social Security and bank numbers, with deadlines attached. For the I-9, the employee completes Section 1 by the first day of work and the employer completes Section 2 within three business days. HR needs to know, for every hire, what is in and what is still missing.
The fields that matter
The HR sample job that ships with CapturePoint 6 reads the forms below. The right-hand column is what most teams add for onboarding.
- DocumentOffer letter
- What the HR sample job readsEmployer, candidate, position, offered compensation
- Worth addingStart date, signed date
- DocumentForm I-9
- What the HR sample job readsEmployer name, first day of employment, the identity documents listed
- Worth addingEmployee name, Section 2 date, document expiration date
- DocumentForm W-4
- What the HR sample job readsEmployee name, filing status (one of the three boxes), employer name
- Worth addingSignature date, first date of employment
- DocumentBenefits enrollment
- What the HR sample job readsEmployee name, employer name
- Worth addingPlans elected or waived, effective date
- DocumentDirect deposit
- What the HR sample job readsNot in the sample: set it up from your own forms
- Worth addingEmployee name, effective date; bank details only if payroll keys from your data
- DocumentPolicy acknowledgment
- What the HR sample job readsNot in the sample: set it up from your own forms
- Worth addingPolicy name, version, date signed
| Document | What the HR sample job reads | Worth adding |
|---|---|---|
| Offer letter | Employer, candidate, position, offered compensation | Start date, signed date |
| Form I-9 | Employer name, first day of employment, the identity documents listed | Employee name, Section 2 date, document expiration date |
| Form W-4 | Employee name, filing status (one of the three boxes), employer name | Signature date, first date of employment |
| Benefits enrollment | Employee name, employer name | Plans elected or waived, effective date |
| Direct deposit | Not in the sample: set it up from your own forms | Employee name, effective date; bank details only if payroll keys from your data |
| Policy acknowledgment | Not in the sample: set it up from your own forms | Policy name, version, date signed |
The HR sample also recognizes resumes, timesheets and performance reviews, so an HR mail run does not have to be sorted before it is scanned.
- Step 1: name, address, SSNCapture the name. Leave the SSN to payroll, and never put it in a file name.
- Filing statusThree boxes, captured as one value.
- Steps 2 to 4Multiple jobs, dependents, other income, deductions and extra withholding.
- Step 5: signature and dateA W-4 is not valid unless signed. A person checks the signature.
- Employers onlyEmployer name and address, first date of employment, EIN.
Common traps
Handwriting
New hires fill forms in with whatever pen is on the desk. Handwriting is not something to count on from any capture tool. Expect handwritten values to wait for a person, and move the forms to fillable PDFs so the values arrive typed (see below).
A whole packet scanned as one stack
A packet scanned in one pass has to be split back into its documents: a two-page offer letter, a multi-page I-9, a one-page W-4. Use automatic separation with review of the uncertain calls, or barcode separator sheets if a merged document is unacceptable.
Checkboxes
Filing status on the W-4 and the citizenship attestation on the I-9 are checkboxes. Capture each group as one value, such as "Head of household", rather than three yes or no fields. The HR sample job reads W-4 filing status exactly that way.
Social Security, bank and document numbers
The W-4 carries the SSN, Section 1 of the I-9 may, the direct deposit form carries the account and routing numbers, and Section 2 of the I-9 carries passport or card numbers. Capture only what a system downstream really needs, and keep all of it out of file and folder names. In CapturePoint 6's naming window, fields named as an SSN, tax ID, bank account or routing number are marked private, and using one in a name brings up a warning.
Out-of-date forms and missing signatures
The W-4 is revised most years and the I-9 carries an edition date. Capture the revision so old forms are caught. Capture software also does not judge signatures: a person checks that every form that needs one is signed.
Capturing paper packets, step by step
- Run the HR sample. Install CapturePoint 6 (the free trial starts on first launch with no form), pick HR on the welcome screen and scan the sample documents with the built-in demo scanner. You will see offer letters, I-9s, W-4s and benefits forms split, recognized and read.
- Teach it your own forms. Choose Use my own documents and add a folder of real packets, including your direct deposit form, state withholding form and policy acknowledgments. Setup finds the document types and proposes fields.
- Give every document the employee ID. Import an export of your HR or payroll system as a CSV lookup list, look up the employee name, and fill the employee ID from the matching row. A name that fits two employees waits for a person.
- Review. Needs review lists each waiting document with the reason. Correct, confirm with Ctrl+Enter, and the job learns.
- Name and file by employee. For example
HR / Employees / E-10482 / W-4_2026-04-04.pdf, and I-9s in their own folder, such asHR / I-9 / E-10482 / I-9_2026-02-23.pdf. No SSN in any name. - Send it to its home. Ademero Content Central (connect, choose the catalog, match the fields), or a folder with a searchable PDF, a data file and a text file. Each PDF can also go to SharePoint or OneDrive (work or school accounts), Google Drive, Dropbox or Nucleus One.
Tracking complete packets
Filing documents by employee is half the job. The other half is knowing which hires are still missing something. Content Central does this with packets: an admin defines a packet template once, and every document that carries the same employee ID joins it automatically, however it arrived.
- In the templateKey field
- For a new-hire packetEmployee ID, shared by every document type in the packet
- In the templateRequired document types
- For a new-hire packetOffer letter, I-9, W-4, state withholding, direct deposit, policy acknowledgment
- In the templateOptional document types
- For a new-hire packetBenefits enrollment or waiver, I-9 identity document copies
- In the templateStatus
- For a new-hire packetComplete, or Incomplete with the missing types listed
| In the template | For a new-hire packet |
|---|---|
| Key field | Employee ID, shared by every document type in the packet |
| Required document types | Offer letter, I-9, W-4, state withholding, direct deposit, policy acknowledgment |
| Optional document types | Benefits enrollment or waiver, I-9 identity document copies |
| Status | Complete, or Incomplete with the missing types listed |
- Packet Search shows any hire's packet as Complete or Incomplete, with missing documents shown as placeholder rows.
- The Incomplete Packets report lists every packet still missing something, and it can run on a schedule.
- A workflow can fire on an incomplete packet to remind someone, or on a complete one to start the next step.
See document packets or the help article on grouping related documents with packets.
Signatures and forms without paper
The cleanest new-hire paperwork is paperwork that never gets printed. Content Central covers both halves:
- Capture forms. Upload your onboarding forms as fillable PDFs. A form can be emailed to a new hire without an account, who fills it in and presses Submit; the completed form and its values are filed together, with no retyping. See creating a capture form.
- Electronic signatures. Request signatures from anyone with an email address, in a set order if needed. When everyone has signed, the signatures are flattened into the PDF and saved as a new version, and the request and completion are written to the document's history. See electronic signatures.
Smaller teams that want this in the cloud can look at Nucleus One, which includes documents, forms, e-signatures and workflows.
Access and retention
- Permissions by document type and field. Content Central can let managers see reviews but not I-9s, and can limit documents by a field value, so each location sees only its own staff.
- Require Reason for Access. Users state why they are opening a document, and the reason is kept in its history.
- Retention by document type. I-9s must be kept for three years after the date of hire or one year after employment ends, whichever is later. Set that schedule on the I-9 type and other schedules on other types; documents can be kept indefinitely for a legal hold. Help: retention policies.
For other record types, see our retention schedules.
Checklist
Before onboarding capture goes live
- Every packet document listed, with which are required.
- Each document type set up from real forms, including your state and policy forms.
- Employee ID on every document, from a lookup against your HR system export.
- I-9s in their own document type, folder and permissions.
- No SSN, bank or document number in any file or folder name.
- Handwritten forms expected to wait for review; fillable forms planned to replace them.
- A person checks signatures and form revisions.
- Incomplete packets reported on a schedule; retention set per document type.
CapturePoint 6 help: help.ademero.com/capturepoint.
The wider HR picture: HR onboarding.