New employees have lots on their minds when they first start working. Enrolling in your benefits program may not be their first priority.

While making the right benefits choices and completing the necessary paperwork is ultimately the employee’s responsibility, HR can give a kick in the pants by providing a checklist like this one. It comes courtesy of Wayne State University in Detroit.

Tips for adapting the checklist

Feel free to adapt the checklist to suit your organization and the benefits you offer. Go to www.theHRSpecialist.com/benefitschecklist and copy-and-paste it into your computer.

These tips will help you create a checklist that works well for your new hires—and for HR.

1. Include checklist categories for all the benefits you offer.
2. Make this an electronic document if at all possible. Adobe Acrobat (www.adobe.com/products/acrobat) and other .pdf file software programs allow creation of online forms so both the employee and HR can keep simultaneous track of benefits selections (and declines).
3. Use live web links. Maintaining an electronic process also permits you to include web links to benefits descriptions and enrollment and claims forms.
4. Include a brief description of the benefit within each category, including pertinent enrollment deadlines and eligibility dates and links to documents employees need to complete.