Hire an employee — from need to first day

When to use

A position is open and the company has decided it needs an employee. Not for writing the ad alone — that is people.write-job-ad. Not for short project work by an independent person — use people.hire-contractor; an employment contract is the wrong tool there and vice versa. Not for the first day itself — this playbook ends at the handover to people.onboard-employee.

Before you start

• The owner has said in one sentence what breaks if the role stays empty.
• The company has an e-signature set up (documents.sign-with-eparaksts) for the contract.
• The salary range is decided; the minimum gross monthly wage in Latvia changes yearly — ⚠ verify current minimum, vid.gov.lv.

What a run requires5

The trail10 steps

1. S1

   Define the roleagentneeds approval · owner

   Approval · S1 · owner — the run stops until a named person records the decision

   Draft a half-page role: tasks, required vs. nice-to-have skills, salary range, start date, workplace.

   Done when the owner has approved the role text and the budget, or said "no hire".

   ⛔ An approved role with no approved budget is not approved — the ad cannot name a range without one.

2. S2

   Publish the adagent

   Prepare the ad from the approved role and post it where the owner chose (job boards, the company site).

   Done when the ad is live and applications arrive into one place the agent can see.

3. S3

   Collect and acknowledgeagent

   Route every application into the people module; send each candidate an acknowledgement of receipt.

   Done when every application has a record and an acknowledgement sent.

   ⛔ Applications in a personal mailbox are invisible to the next person and lost at handover.

4. S4

   Screenagent

   Score each candidate against the approved role: must-haves met or not, one line why. Reject with a courteous reply; keep a shortlist of at most five.

   Done when every candidate has a score and a status, and the shortlist exists.

5. S5

   Interviewagent

   Run interviews per people.interview-loop; the owner meets the finalists. Record notes per candidate, not per memory.

   Done when each shortlisted candidate has interview notes and a recommendation.

6. S6

   Chooseownerneeds approval · owner

   Approval · S6 · owner — the run stops until a named person records the decision

   Present the top candidates with scores, notes and salary ask.

   Done when the owner has named one person, a start date and the salary.

7. S7

   Offer and contractagentneeds approval · ownerirreversible

   Approval · S7 · owner — the run stops until a named person records the decision

   Irreversible · S7 — an agent never closes it alone

   Make the verbal offer; on acceptance, prepare the written employment contract per people.employment-contract-lv — parties, duties, workplace, working time, salary, start date, probation (⚠ verify maximum probation length, Labour Law, likumi.lv). Owner and employee sign with e-signature before any work starts.

   Done when both signed copies are stored in the documents module, dated before the first working day.

   ⛔ No work, no training, no "just helping out" before the signature — a started employment without a written contract is a violation from day one.

8. S8

   Register with the stateagentneeds approval · owner

   Approval · S8 · owner — the run stops until a named person records the decision

   File the new-employee registration with the State Revenue Service as the employer requires (⚠ verify current form and deadline — before or on the first working day — vid.gov.lv).

   Done when the filing is confirmed and the confirmation is stored.

   ⛔ Filing late is not self-healing; check the confirmation date against the start date.

9. S9

   Prepare day oneagent

   Workplace, equipment, e-mail account (tech.create-mailbox if new), access rights, a written first-week plan.

   Done when a person who has never met the company could start from the checklist alone.

10. S10

    Hand overagent

    Send the owner a summary: who, salary, start date, contract filed, day one ready. Start people.onboard-employee for the first day.

    Done when the owner has confirmed and the onboarding playbook is started.

Checks — how we know it worked

• The signed contract exists in the documents module, dated on or before the start date.
• The state registration confirmation is stored and dated within the deadline.
• Salary in the contract matches the owner's approval in S6 to the euro.
• Every candidate in S4 has a status — no application left in "new" after the hire.

If it goes wrong

What each step leaves behind

1. S1the owner has approved the role text and the budget, or said "no hire".
2. S2the ad is live and applications arrive into one place the agent can see.
3. S3every application has a record and an acknowledgement sent.
4. S4every candidate has a score and a status, and the shortlist exists.
5. S5each shortlisted candidate has interview notes and a recommendation.
6. S6the owner has named one person, a start date and the salary.
7. S7both signed copies are stored in the documents module, dated before the first working day.
8. S8the filing is confirmed and the confirmation is stored.
9. S9a person who has never met the company could start from the checklist alone.
10. S10the owner has confirmed and the onboarding playbook is started.

Evidence to keep

The approved role text (S1) · the ad and where it ran · every application with score and status · interview notes · the owner's choice (who, when, salary) · both signed contract copies · the state registration confirmation · the day-one checklist.

How this playbook improves

After every 5 hires ask: days from ask to signed contract, and which step waited? Did any candidate withdraw, and at which step? Did any contract need correction after signing? Did the state registration ever come close to the deadline? A new version changes the step that caused the wait or the miss, and says so in its change note.