Onboarding administration

Organize restaurant onboarding before day one gets busy

A new hire's paperwork competes with their first shift, and the shift always wins. Moving the sequence off the floor is the entire fix.

Discuss your onboarding workflow

The sequence

From accepted offer to first payroll

Every hire follows the same path. That is what makes the fortieth one as complete as the first.

Offer accepted

The onboarding packet goes out the same day, not on the first shift. Every document is tracked from the moment it is issued.

Before day one

Tax forms, direct-deposit authorization, policy and handbook acknowledgements, and any role-specific certification collected and checked for completeness.

Day one

The I-9 is completed on schedule, with your manager examining documents in person. BOHO tracks the deadline and the file; the examination and attestation are always yours.

First payroll

The employee record exists before the first run, not after it. State new-hire reporting is handled on the payroll clock.

Ongoing

Re-verification dates, certification expiries, and probation or review milestones tracked so they surface before they lapse.

What goes wrong

Four gaps that show up in almost every restaurant

None of these come from carelessness. They come from paperwork competing with a dinner service and losing.

The half-finished I-9

Section 1 completed by the employee, Section 2 never done because the manager who was going to do it got pulled onto the floor. It is discovered years later.

The unreported hire

State new-hire reporting runs on a deadline tied to the hire date. It is easy to miss because nothing in the restaurant reminds you it exists.

The unacknowledged handbook

The handbook was emailed. Nobody signed anything. When a policy is later enforced, there is no record the employee was ever told about it.

The expired certification

Alcohol-service or food-safety certification lapses quietly. Nobody notices until an inspection or an incident makes it matter.

The Massachusetts-specific version of this list, with what to collect and when, is in the Massachusetts restaurant onboarding checklist.

The I-9 line

What BOHO can and cannot do with work authorization

This one is worth being unambiguous about, because it is the most commonly overstated item in restaurant HR marketing.

BOHO administers

Issues the form and instructions at the right point in the sequence
Tracks the completion deadline and chases it before it passes
Maintains the file and the re-verification calendar
Flags an incomplete or inconsistent form for correction

Your restaurant must do

Physically examine the employee's documents
Complete the employer attestation
Decide whether a document is acceptable
Handle any question about an individual's work authorization

BOHO does not verify work authorization, does not provide immigration advice, and cannot attest on your behalf. Your restaurant remains the employer of record and approves payroll and employment decisions. BOHO is not a PEO, a staffing agency, or legal counsel.

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