# Onboard officers

An onboarding checklist is the list of tasks to finish for a new officer — documents on file, handbook signed, PIN issued, uniform handed over. An Agency Admin builds the list once as a template under Agency Settings → Onboarding; each officer then gets a copy on the Onboarding tab of their profile, where Agency Admins and Agency Coordinators tick items off. The checklist is a record for your agency: it does not decide whether an officer can be proposed.

## Who can do what?

| Task | Who |
|---|---|
| Build and activate the template | Agency Admin |
| Start an officer's checklist and tick items off | Agency Admin, Agency Coordinator |

Officers do not see their checklist.

## How do I set up the template?

**Agency Settings → Onboarding** opens the template. **Versions** lists every version; the one in use is marked **Active**. The active version cannot be changed — you work on a draft and then make it active.

1. Start a draft: **Sample** (or **Import sample**, when there are no versions) copies in a 26-item new-starter list; **Clone**, while the active version is selected, copies it; **New** (or **Start blank**) is empty. Drafts are named **Template v2**, **Template v3** and so on.
2. **Add item**, or an item's edit button, opens the item: a **Label**, an optional **Category** that groups it on the checklist, a **Sort order**, optional **Help text**, and the ticks **Required**, **Doc upload** and **Completed date**. Press **Add** or **Save**. The bin button removes an item.
3. Press **Activate**. The draft becomes the active version, and the one before it stops being active.

**Doc upload** and **Completed date** are markers only — the checklist does not ask for a file or a date. The date an item was done is stamped when it is set to **Done**.

Activating changes nothing for checklists already started; it applies to checklists started from then on. A version that is not active can be deleted with its bin button.

## How do I start an officer's checklist?

Nothing creates one automatically — not adding the officer, and not activating a template.

- For one officer: open their profile from **People → Officers**, choose **Onboarding**, and press **Initialise from active template**.
- For everyone: on the template page, select the active version and press **Apply to all**. Every active officer with a login who has no checklist yet gets one; deactivated officers are left out. Officers who already have one are left alone.

## How do I tick items off?

Each item has a status — **Pending**, **Done**, **N/A** (does not apply; counts towards the required items) or **Blocked** — set with the picker beside it. The note button opens a box for a note, saved when you click away. The top shows how far through the officer is, and **All required items complete** once every required item is **Done** or **N/A**.

![Bethan Ellis's Onboarding checklist: 5 / 6 complete · 5 / 6 required · 83%, with a progress bar and a Template link. Documents · 3: SIA licence checked on the public register, Done, required, 17 Feb 2025; Right to work document on file, Done, 17 Feb 2025; Proof of address on file, Done, 18 Feb 2025. Induction · 3: Agency handbook signed, Done, 24 Feb 2025; Check-call PIN issued, Done, 24 Feb 2025; Uniform and ID issued, Pending, required. Each item has a status picker and a note button.](/docs/img/officer-onboarding-tab.png)

## Does the checklist stop an officer being proposed?

No. Whether an officer can be put forward depends on their login, their licence and their verified documents — see [Find requests and propose officers](/docs/agency/propose-officers#what-is-checked-before-a-proposal-goes-in). Finishing the checklist changes nothing else.

## If it goes wrong

| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| No **Onboarding** under **Agency Settings** | You are an Agency Coordinator. Ask an Agency Admin. |
| No **Add item** or **Activate** | You have the active version selected. **Clone** it first. |
| *No active onboarding template* when initialising | Nothing is active yet. An Agency Admin must activate a version. |
| A version will not delete | It is active, or an officer's checklist was taken from it. |

## Related

- [Add and manage officers](/docs/agency/manage-officers)
- [Keep officers' compliance documents](/docs/agency/officer-compliance-documents)
- [Screen officers to BS 7858](/docs/agency/officer-screening)
- [Onboarding checklists](/docs/organisation/onboarding-checklists) — the organisation's side