Hire Charm checklist
Your first 90 days with a new hire can be calm, clear and ticking along, even in a Worcester winter or Tembisa morning rush.
| Focus | Onboarding |
|---|---|
| Window | 90 days |
| Contracts | Oriented |
| Milestones | Logged |
| Supplier hub | Pretoria |
Email magic@ for a tailored pack.
Also see supplier notes and projects.
Steps for a steady first 90 days
Here’s your Hire Charm checklist, shaped by what actually trips up new starters in South African SMEs. Every item lands in reality: CIPC letters, SARS eFiling, your VAT201, even the first payslip. Print this page for the new hire’s file. If you need to set up a weekly rhythm, see onboarding cadence.
- Issue a signed letter of appointment before first day, attached to the candidate’s ID copy.
- Hand over the employment contract, double-checking salary and notice period on day one.
- Add the new hire to your SARS EMP201 schedule and confirm UIF registration by the end of the first week.
- Capture personal details onto your payroll, and send the bank a FICA pack if they need salary confirmation.
- Set up an email address and workspace access before 8:30am on their first day (even if the lights go off).
- Book a safety briefing with the site supervisor within the first three days (COIDA log in the file).
- Tick off SARS tax number collection and explain payslip deductions line by line in week two.
- Schedule a check-in with the owner or ops lead at the 30-day mark and fill in a milestones sheet.
- Log all employment paperwork in a single folder labelled with the new hire’s name plus start date.
- Collect written feedback from the new hire on process clarity after sixty days.
- Confirm the contract sign-off and milestone log at 90 days, with a handoff note to your accountant or external payroll supplier.
Where onboarding usually slips
Small businesses run by hands-on owners often trip at three points. First, the letter of appointment and contract can be muddled or missing, especially when your phone rings every ten minutes and it’s month-end. Second, no clear owner for onboarding steps: HR says it’s ops, ops says it’s finance, and the file just sits there. Third, paperwork splinters between WhatsApp, email and a pile in a cupboard, so SARS EMP201s or UIF proof gets lost when you need it. For ideas on keeping onboarding rituals tidy, see our first hire ritual or the practical notes at first 90 days without the scramble.
What ‘done’ looks like on paper
On paper, a successful onboarding will have a neat, signed employment contract, CIPC certificate (if requested for bank or SARS), SARS EMP201 payroll entry, and the health and safety induction log with both signatures. You’ll have a single printed folder (or a marked digital folder) holding ID, contract, SARS numbers, the signed milestone sheet, and the 90-day feedback note. If a supplier or accountant needs to check, everything is labelled and no-one has to chase up three WhatsApps to find a UIF number. Completed checklists should stay in the HR file for five years, in case you get a call from the Department of Labour, or, oops, a missing SARS EMP501.
A real checklist ticked off
When Sithembiso’s metalwork supply in Tembisa took on Lerato in April, he started with the signed contract and ID, dropped them in a manila folder, but then nearly skipped step three, UIF registration. His neighbour at the taxi rank reminded him, so he added Lerato to the EMP201 in SARS eFiling by Friday. By the 30-day meeting, Lerato’s safety induction was done, payslips explained (with a quick note about overtime), and all paperwork logged. In Worcester, Zanele’s bakery used this checklist for her first two hires. She set up a digital folder on her laptop with the starter pack, onboarding sheet, and milestone log. The feedback note at 60 days flagged small things, Lerato wanted payslips emailed not printed, that were easy to fix. For supplier support, Sithembiso checked in with our Pretoria supplier hub by email.
If you need to reset and rebuild your process after a scramble, there’s a clear route at Hire Charm handoff or a calendar to keep onboarding rituals in-synch at 90-day onboarding ritual.
