You must:

• Check the candidate can legally work in New Zealand.
• Explain the 90-day trial period, if you’re going to use one.
• Give the candidate information about any unions or collective agreements supplied to you by the unions.

You should:

• Spend a bit of time chatting about the role and the conditions you’re offering, eg hours and location of the work, salary, training requirements, fringe benefits and holidays.

Remember, a person is an employee once an offer is accepted. This might be through verbal agreement or signing a letter or employment agreement.

Employee Agreement Builder(external link)

You should:

• Organise anything they need to get going, eg computer, uniform, work tools, company policies, safety equipment, security pass and email.
• Plan out their first day and an induction process.
• Add them to any insurance policies you might have.

Remember, new employees will be more comfortable if you’re fully prepared for them. Being prepared will also speed up their settling-in time and get them contributing to your business faster. If this is your first employee, you’ll need to register as an employer with Inland Revenue.

Register as an employer(external link) — Inland Revenue

You must:

• Explain your workplace’s health and safety procedures.

You should:

• Show your employee how your systems and processes work.
• Introduce them to any other workers you might have.
• Get their emergency contact details, and give them yours.

Remember, the more effort you put into getting the right employee, settling them in to the role, and getting them up to speed with their work, the better it’ll be for you, your staff and your business.

Health and safety: Worker engagement and participation