New Hire Compliance Training Checklist, with a Printable Copy
Short answer: most new hires need a signed copy of your handbook and key policies in their first week, any safety training before they face the hazard, and the harassment or awareness training your state or province requires, by the deadline it sets. The table below lists those deadlines, and the printable checklist turns them into one page per hire.
Download the printable checklist (PDF) One page per new hire. No email required.
New-hire deadlines by rule
These are the rules that set a deadline for someone who has just joined. Check the ones that apply to your location, size and work.
Harassment prevention training
California, 5+ workers
Within 6 months of hire (1 hour; 2 hours for supervisors). Seasonal and temporary staff, and anyone hired for under 6 months: within 30 days or 100 hours worked, whichever comes first
Gov. Code §12950.1
Harassment prevention training
New York, every employer
No fixed deadline; train new hires as soon as possible. Give the written policy and notice at hire
Labor Law §201-g
Harassment prevention training
Illinois, every employer
As soon as possible, and no later than December 31 of the year
775 ILCS 5/2-109; IDHR
Harassment prevention training
Connecticut, 3+ employees
Within 6 months of hire (2 hours)
Conn. Gen. Stat. §46a-54(15)
Written harassment policy
Massachusetts, 6+ employees
A copy when they start
G.L. c. 151B, §3A
Health and safety awareness, workers
Ontario
As soon as practicable after starting work
O. Reg. 297/13, s. 1
Health and safety awareness, supervisors
Ontario
Within one week of starting to supervise
O. Reg. 297/13, s. 2
AODA accessibility training
Ontario
As soon as practicable
O. Reg. 191/11, s. 7(3)
Violence and harassment policy information and instruction
Ontario
No fixed deadline, but every worker, including new hires, must receive it
OHSA ss. 32.0.5, 32.0.8
Bloodborne pathogens
US, jobs with exposure
At the time of initial assignment to tasks with exposure
29 CFR 1910.1030(g)(2)(ii)(A)
Forklift operator training and evaluation
US, operators
Before they operate a truck
29 CFR 1910.178(l)(1)(ii)
HIPAA privacy training
US, covered entities
Within a reasonable time after joining
45 CFR 164.530(b)
General information, not legal advice. Checked against the sources on October 3, 2026.
State pages with the official courses: California, New York, Illinois, Connecticut and Ontario. In Ontario, the three-question quiz shows which duties apply at your size.
The checklist
Before or on day one
- Add the person with their role and hire date, so role-based training and hire-date deadlines work.
- Safety training for any hazard they'll face in their first days. Several OSHA standards require it before exposure.
- If they arrive with a valid certificate, such as forklift or first aid, record it instead of repeating the course. How to track certifications.
First week
- Employee handbook acknowledgment.
- Your harassment policy, and the reporting contacts in it. In New York and Massachusetts, a copy at hire is required.
- IT acceptable use and security rules, if they use company email or systems.
- In Ontario: supervisor awareness training if they'll direct anyone's work.
First 30 days
- In Ontario: worker health and safety awareness, AODA training, and instruction on your violence and harassment policies.
- Role-specific training, such as HIPAA for anyone handling patient information.
By the legal deadline
- Harassment prevention training in California and Connecticut (within 6 months), Illinois (by December 31) and New York (as soon as possible).
Before their probation review
- Check every item is complete, and that the record shows the date and the version or certificate.
For pacing across the first month, see how to onboard a new hire into your compliance training.
Doing it without the paper
The printed checklist works for a few hires a year. Past that, the risk is the hire nobody remembered to assign. In Ethica, you set up the checklist once:
- Add each item as a requirement: a policy PDF to sign, a course file, or a link to a course hosted elsewhere with a certificate upload.
- Set the due date, counted from the hire date or from the day it's assigned. A deadline counted from hire falls back to the assignment date if it has already passed.
- Create Smart Assignment rules for everyone, or for one role, such as Supervisor.
When you add a new employee, Ethica assigns whatever their role needs, sets each due date and emails them a private link to each item, with no account to create. Reminders go out as each deadline approaches, and every completion lands in their record. Watch how automatic assignment works.