Creating and Onboarding Employees

After a company has completed the onboarding process, they can start creating and onboarding their employees in preparation for running payroll. In this stage, an employee’s profile, tax elections, and bank information is collected to ensure tax calculations are done correctly and the employee is able to receive their net pay. 

Creating Employees

• To create an employee, the employer will go to the People tab on the Employer Dashboard and select Add New Employee

• On the Create New Employee page, the employer will fill out the employee details (listed below) and select Add Employee once all information is completed
  1. The following are required to create the Employee in Zeal
     1. First and Last name
     2. Email address
     3. Job title
     4. Start date
     5. Work location (via drop-down menu)
     6. Regular payroll employee check box (this will use the company’s default pay schedule)
     7. Pay schedule
  2. The following are optional when creating the Employee. If it is not supplied here it will be asked from the Employee later when they go through onboarding 
     1. Date of Birth
     2. Social Security Number
     3. Phone number
     4. Home address
        • Addresses supplied they must be mail deliverable. No PO Boxes allowed.
     5. Speciality Employee Type (optional) 
        • Default designated all non-agricultural or household employees
        • Agricultural designates agricultural employees that are reported on IRS Form 943 (Employer's Annual Federal Tax Return for Agricultural Employees) rather than Form 941/944
     6. Salaried employee check box (optional)
     7. Pay information (optional)
        • Default Wage (hourly wage) (required but can be set to 0)
        • Default Overtime Rate
        • Default Doubletime Rate

• After selecting Add Employee, the employer will be brought back to the People page and will see the created employee on the list of employees

Onboarding Employees

1. To finish onboarding the employee, the employer can either
   1. Send the onboarding link to the employee to fill out
   2. Copy the onboarding link and open in a browser to fill out the rest of the employee information.
   3. When selecting the copy option, a popup will give the employer options for onboarding sections to fill out. The employer can uncheck sections only the optional sections. These options are: 
      • Profile Information (required): SSN, DoB, Address, etc.
      • Create Employee Account (optional): Collects the Employee's username and password to create the an Employee account to login into a Zeal worker-dashboard.
        • Note: If this is not included, Employees are still able to get a login view of their Dashboard via a Generated Dashboard Link.
      • I-9 Form (optional): Will include the I-9 form in the document collection.
        • Note: If not opted into Zeal's Enhance I9 Flow, this will only complete Section 1 of the Form I-9
      • Scan IDs (optional): Allows you to collect Driver’s License + Social Security card or Passport from the Employee if needed.
      • Require Bank Account Set Up: Bank Account Information Collection for Payroll Direct Deposit.
      • Paperwork (required): Collects Federal and State W-4 Forms. 
        • Note: This is also where the Form I-9 will show if that section is check-boxed.
        • Note: If also opted into Zeal's Custom Paperwork, any applicable Custom Paperwork will show for the Employee in this section.

You can Refer to this Admin Video to Create and Employee and Send an Onboarding Link

Employee Onboarding Experience

The Employee will work through the flow, 

Note: Depending on your unique build in Zeal, other sections not listed here may apply.

1. Once the onboarding link is opened, the employee’s Profile Information page will be displayed, including any information that was already added when the employee was created. The employee fills in any information not entered during employee creation.
2. If the Employer requires a password to access Zeal's worker dashboard, the Create an account page will be displayed, showing the email and prompting a password.
3. If the Employer requires employee ID documentation for onboarding, the Identification page will be displayed, prompting ID document collection.
4. The Employee (or preparer) will fill out the Employee’s tax information for the Federal and State-applicable W-4 Forms in Paperwork. Prior to submitting, the PDF of the forms will be generated to allow for review to ensure the forms have been filled out correctly.
5. In Paperwork, if the Employer requires any Custom Paperwork completed, the Employee will be prompted to complete/acknowledge it after the W-4 forms.
6. If the Employer requires an I-9 Form to be completed, the Employee will go through the US I-9 flow in Paperwork.
7. Once all the paperwork information has been collected, the employee will be taken to the Bank Information page. This is where all of the employee’s bank details (listed below) will be provided so they can receive their pay. They are able to add more than one account but can only choose 1 primary account they wish to receive their pay to.
   • Bank name
   • Account Type
   • Account Number
   • Routing Number
8.  Once completed, the Employee will be taken to a confirmation screen displaying You’re All Set. The employee has now been successfully onboarded and will show with status Onboarded on the People page.

Example Employee Onboarding Flow (Note: Your Onboarding Flow may vary):

Updated July 11, 2025 22:54