Email template · Onboarding
New hire first day email
In short
A first day email to a new employee gives the exact instructions for day one: arrival time, address and entrance, who will meet them, what to bring, dress code, parking and a rough schedule. Below are templates for an office start, a remote start and an hourly training class, plus a day-before SMS reminder and subject lines.
When to send it: Send it three to five business days before the start date, and follow with a short reminder text or email the afternoon before.
New hire first day email: 3 versions
Office or site start
SubjectYour first day at [Company]: [Start Date], [Start Time]
Hi [First Name], We're looking forward to seeing you on [Start Date]. Here's everything you need for your first day. Arrive: [Start Time] Where: [Street Address], [Building / Floor / Entrance] Parking: [Parking or transit instructions] Ask for: [Greeter Name], who will meet you at reception Dress: [Dress Code] Bring: a photo ID and your original Form I-9 documents, plus [anything else, e.g. a voided check if not submitted] What your day looks like: - [Time]: Welcome, badge photo and paperwork with [HR Contact Name] - [Time]: Laptop and system setup with IT - [Time]: Lunch with [Manager Name] and the team (on us) - [Time]: Meet your onboarding buddy, [Buddy Name], and walk through your first-week plan - [End Time]: Wrap-up If you're running late or anything changes on the day, call or text me at [Phone Number]. See you [Day of Week], [Your Name] [Title], [Company]
Remote start
SubjectYour first day: [Start Date] starts at [Start Time] [Time Zone]
Hi [First Name], Your first day is [Start Date]. Here's how it will work. Before day one: - Your laptop should have arrived. If it hasn't by [Equipment Deadline], let me know right away. - Check your personal email for your login details from IT. On day one: - [Start Time] [Time Zone]: Welcome call with [HR Contact Name]: [Video Link] - [Time]: IT setup session: [Video Link] - [Time]: One-on-one with [Manager Name] - [Time]: Virtual coffee with the [Team Name] team If anything doesn't work with your setup, call IT at [IT Help Number] or text me at [Phone Number]. Nobody expects you to fix it alone. Welcome, [Your Name] [Title], [Company]
Hourly training class
SubjectTraining starts [Start Date]: where to go and what to bring
Hi [First Name], Your [Job Title] training class starts [Start Date]. Please arrive by [Arrival Time] so we can start on time at [Start Time]. Where: [Street Address], [Entrance or Door Number] Parking: [Parking Details] Ask for: [Trainer Name] Bring: photo ID, your Form I-9 documents and [any other items] Wear: [Dress Code, e.g. closed-toe shoes required] Schedule this week: [Training Hours] You'll be paid for all training hours at [Pay Rate]. On day one you'll learn how to clock in and out, so you don't need to do anything beforehand. If you can't make it, call or text [Text Number] before [Arrival Time]. [Your Name] [Company] Recruiting Team
Subject line ideas
- Your first day at [Company]: [Start Date]
- What to expect on your first day
- See you [Day of Week]: first day details
- First day instructions for [Start Date]
- Your first-day schedule at [Company]
- Training starts [Start Date]: where to go and what to bring
SMS and WhatsApp version
Hi [First Name], see you tomorrow at [Start Time]. Go to [Street Address], [Entrance], and ask for [Greeter Name]. Bring photo ID and your I-9 documents. Running late? Text me here. - [Your Name], [Company]
Placeholders to replace: [First Name], [Company], [Start Date], [Start Time], [Arrival Time], [Time Zone], [Day of Week], [Street Address], [Entrance], [Greeter Name], [Dress Code], [HR Contact Name], [Manager Name], [Buddy Name], [Trainer Name], [Training Hours], [Pay Rate], [Video Link], [IT Help Number], [Text Number], [Your Name], [Title], [Phone Number]
The job of this email
Day-one nerves are mostly logistics: Where do I park? Which door? Who do I ask for? What if I'm late? A first day email that answers every one of those in a scannable block lets the new hire arrive calm and on time. It is a different message from the welcome email to a new employee sent at acceptance, which is about welcome and next steps. This one is practical and specific.
Think of it as instructions a friend could follow if the new hire forwarded it to them. If it would need a follow-up question, it isn't finished yet.
What to include
- Exact arrival time, and for hourly classes an arrival time ten to fifteen minutes before the real start.
- Full address and the specific entrance. Large sites, hospitals and campuses have many doors; "Building C, east entrance by the loading dock" saves twenty minutes of wandering.
- Parking or transit, including whether parking is paid and where visitors versus employees park.
- A named person who will meet them.
- What to bring: photo ID and original Form I-9 documents at minimum, since Section 2 must be completed within three business days of the start.
- Dress code in plain terms, especially safety requirements like closed-toe shoes or no loose jewelry on a warehouse floor.
- A rough schedule for the day, including lunch.
- A phone number to call if they're running late.
Longer training programs deserve their own message. If the first two weeks are a structured class, send the new hire training schedule email as a separate reference.
Timing
Three to five business days ahead gives people time to plan childcare, test a commute or ask about parking. Earlier than a week and it gets buried; later than two days and anyone who needs to sort out a commute is rushed. Send a short reminder the afternoon before by text for hourly hires, who are much more likely to see a text than an email that evening.
If you're running a recurring class, say every Monday for a 250-seat contact center, keep the email as a fixed template with merge fields for date, trainer and room, and schedule it automatically through your onboarding workflow. The recruiter then only checks the list of who has not opened it.
Make the first day itself match the email
The email sets expectations, and the day has to meet them. If you promised lunch with the manager, the manager needs it in their calendar. If you promised a working laptop by 10am, IT needs to have built it the day before. New hires remember a first day where nobody expected them, and some of them don't come back for the second.
For hourly roles, make sure the new hire is in the timekeeping system before they arrive. Training hours are paid working time for non-exempt employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act, and a new hire who can't clock in on day one should never be left with unrecorded hours. Setting up attendance tracking ahead of the class avoids messy manual corrections.
Tone
Friendly, brief and confident. Lead with the logistics, add one line of warmth at the end. Avoid an agenda so packed with meetings that it reads as overwhelming; leave space for a break and a real lunch. For remote hires, include more contact options, because a laptop problem at 9am with no working email is a lonely start.
Mistakes to avoid
- Main-office address for a person starting at a satellite site. Check the location field.
- Forgetting time zones for remote starts.
- No backup contact for the morning itself.
- Promising things that aren't ready: equipment, badge access, system logins.
- Telling people which I-9 documents to bring. Point to the list of acceptable documents and let them choose.
Frequently asked questions
What should a first day instructions email include?
Arrival time, full address and entrance, parking, who to ask for, what to bring (photo ID and Form I-9 documents), dress code, a rough schedule and a phone number for the morning itself.
When should I send a first day email to a new employee?
Three to five business days before the start date, followed by a short reminder text or email the afternoon before. Send it immediately if the start date is less than three days away.
What do you write in a first day schedule email?
A simple timeline with times and who they will be with: welcome and paperwork, equipment setup, time with the manager, lunch, meeting a buddy and a wrap-up. Keep gaps for breaks.
Who should send the what to expect on your first day email?
Usually HR or the recruiter who handled the hire, since they own the logistics. Many managers also send a short personal note the same week.
Should a first day email be different for remote employees?
Yes. Replace address and parking with video links, equipment delivery checks, login instructions and an IT help number, and state every time with its time zone.