Onboard a new employee by email in Humanised
On this page
- How does email onboarding work in Humanised?
- Stage 1 — Send the onboarding invite
- Stage 2 — What the employee does
- Stage 3 — Review and complete onboarding
- Check the invite status, resend or cancel
- Review the submission and confirm
- Set up access (optional)
- Quick reference — who does what
- Frequently asked questions
- How long is the onboarding link valid?
- Does the employee need a Humanised login to fill in the form?
- Who can send an onboarding invite?
- What documents does the employee have to upload?
- What happens if I cancel a pending invite?
- Can I resend the invite if the employee lost the email?
- Does email onboarding set up payroll and leave automatically?
- Can I add several employees at once instead?
In short: To onboard an employee by email in Humanised, open Contacts, click Add Contact, enter their preferred name, email and user type, then tick Onboard Via Email and click Create Contact. The employee gets a link (valid 30 days), completes a two-page form, and uploads their NIC. You then review the submission and confirm.
This guide is for Owners, Payroll Admins, Admins and HR Admins who add new staff to Humanised.
How does email onboarding work in Humanised?
Email onboarding lets you invite a new employee to fill in their own details, instead of typing everything yourself. You send an invite from the Contacts section, the employee completes a short two-page form in their browser (no login needed), and you review and approve what they submitted. The invite link stays valid for 30 days.
It runs in three stages: you invite, the employee fills in their details, and you review and complete onboarding. The sections below walk through each stage. If you’d rather add several people at once from a spreadsheet, use bulk CSV upload instead — email onboarding is best when you want each person to enter and own their own data.
Stage 1 — Send the onboarding invite
You’ll need an Owner, Payroll Admin, Admin or HR Admin account to do this.
- Open Contacts. Click Contacts in the main sidebar. (For an overview of what this section does, see the Contacts section of Humanised.)
- Click Add Contact. A modal opens.
- Enter the basic details:
- Preferred Name
- Email Address — this is where the invite is sent, so double-check it.
- User Type — the role the person will have. If you’re unsure which to pick, see choosing the right access level.
- Tick “Onboard Via Email”. Two more fields appear:
- Subject — pre-filled, but you can edit it.
- Description — a welcome message, pre-filled and editable. This is what the employee reads first, so personalise it if you’d like.
- Click “Create Contact”. Humanised creates a pending employee record and emails the invite straight away.
The link inside the invite is valid for 30 days. After that it expires and you’ll need to resend it (covered in Stage 3).
Stage 2 — What the employee does
The employee doesn’t need a Humanised account or password for this step. They simply:
- Open the email and read your welcome message.
- Click the link, which opens the onboarding form in their browser.
- Fill in their personal details (Page 1). This is organised into sections:
| Section | What it captures |
|---|---|
| Personal info | Full name, name with initials, preferred name, date of birth, gender, marital status, religion, nationality |
| Identification & contact | NIC/Passport, mobile number, email (pre-filled from the invite) |
| Addresses | Permanent and current address, with a “same as permanent” tick to save typing |
| Bank details | Bank, branch, account name, account number |
| Employment info | Primary salary, EPF/ETF numbers, secondary-income flag |
| Visa info | Only if applicable, with an expiry date |
| Emergency contact | Name and mobile number |
| Family details | Parents if single, spouse if married |
- Move to Page 2. Clicking Next takes them to document upload.
- Upload documents:
- Required: NIC front and NIC back.
- Optional: CV and up to four certificates.
- Submit. They can tick “Send me a copy” before clicking Submit. A success page confirms it’s done.
The EPF/ETF numbers the employee enters here flow into payroll. Humanised handles the EPF, ETF and APIT calculations automatically once the profile is active — if you ever need to adjust these, see updating EPF/ETF for employees.
Stage 3 — Review and complete onboarding
Back in Contacts, a person you’ve invited shows up with an orange “Pending” tag and a highlighted row, so they’re easy to spot.
Check the invite status, resend or cancel
Click the Pending tag to open a dropdown showing the status, who sent the invite, when it was sent, and when the link expires. From here you can:
- Resend Email — sends a fresh 30-day invite. Use this if the link expired or the employee lost the email.
- Cancel Request — lets you add an optional reason, then deletes the pending record and any uploaded files, and emails the employee that the invite was cancelled.
Review the submission and confirm
- Open the employee’s profile. Once they’ve submitted, click their name in the list.
- Review the submitted information — go through personal details, bank info, family details, emergency contact, and the uploaded documents.
- Confirm / Save to approve. The person becomes a regular employee and the Pending tag disappears.
Set up access (optional)
After confirming, you can decide how the new employee signs in:
- Login Access — toggle this on if they should be able to log in. Humanised then sends them a password-setup email. For a fuller explanation of access options, see how to give access.
- Payroll access — enabled by default.
- Default leave balances — assigned automatically based on the employment type, so there’s nothing extra to set up here.
That’s the full loop: you invite, the employee fills in their own details, and you confirm — with the data entered and owned by the person it belongs to. Email onboarding is one of the everyday tasks that makes Humanised a practical HR system for Sri Lankan businesses, alongside automated EPF/ETF/APIT and a mobile app for staff.
Quick reference — who does what
| Persona | What they do |
|---|---|
| Admin invites | Enters preferred name, email and role, customises the welcome message, ticks Onboard Via Email, clicks Create Contact. |
| Employee fills in | Opens the email link, completes the two-page form, uploads NIC (and optional CV/certificates), clicks Submit. |
| Admin reviews | Opens the pending profile, checks the submission, clicks Confirm, then enables login if needed. |
Frequently asked questions
How long is the onboarding link valid?
The invite link is valid for 30 days from when you create the contact. If it expires, open the Pending tag on the contact and click Resend Email to send a fresh 30-day link.
Does the employee need a Humanised login to fill in the form?
No. The onboarding form opens in any browser from the email link and requires no login. A login is only set up later — and only if you choose to — when you toggle Login Access after confirming their profile.
Who can send an onboarding invite?
Owners, Payroll Admins, Admins and HR Admins can send invites from the Contacts section.
What documents does the employee have to upload?
The NIC front and NIC back are required. A CV and up to four certificates are optional.
What happens if I cancel a pending invite?
Cancelling lets you add an optional reason, then deletes the pending record and any files the employee already uploaded, and emails them to say the invite was cancelled.
Can I resend the invite if the employee lost the email?
Yes. Click the Pending tag on their row, then Resend Email. This issues a new invite with a fresh 30-day link.
Does email onboarding set up payroll and leave automatically?
Payroll access is enabled by default when you confirm the profile, and default leave balances are assigned automatically based on the employment type. The EPF/ETF numbers entered during onboarding feed into the automated statutory calculations.
Can I add several employees at once instead?
Yes — for adding many people from a spreadsheet, use bulk CSV upload. Email onboarding is best when you want each employee to enter and verify their own details.
Was this article helpful?
Your feedback helps us improve these guides.
Thanks for letting us know. Raise a support ticket and a team member will follow up.
Still need a hand?
A real human on our team will look at your ticket and come back to you — typically within a few working hours.
Open a support ticket