Your first employee: build protection before the first working day

The business question

Hiring changes a founder’s risk position. A freelancer’s own arrangements do not automatically insure a new employee, even when the employee works only a few days each week. Treat the first hire as an operational launch with assigned responsibilities, rather than leaving insurance to the first annual payroll declaration.

Understand the mechanism

Compulsory accident insurance, occupational pensions where applicable, and salary continuation during sickness are separate questions. A daily sickness allowance contract is generally optional, but an employment contract or collective agreement can add obligations. The legal form of the employer does not replace the need to examine each employee’s actual situation.

Hypothetical business case

A fictional Geneva design studio hires its first assistant for three days each week. Before sending a benefits promise, the founder needs the start date, salary, weekly working hours and applicable employment terms. A promise of full salary during illness could exceed the insurer’s reimbursement, leaving a cost that has never been budgeted.

Decisions before you commit

Prepare a written onboarding checklist with the payroll provider: establish accident cover, assess pension affiliation, identify sickness obligations and confirm who reports absences. Ask for the insurance start dates in writing. If a policy is still being reviewed, avoid representing an unconfirmed benefit as already available.

Your evidence pack

Keep the employment contract, salary forecast, work schedule, collective agreement if relevant, insurer confirmation and pension registration together. For a small firm, a named person responsible for each notification is more useful than a large handbook that nobody maintains.

Stress-test the decision

Test onboarding before the employee starts by asking the payroll contact to walk through a first-week accident and a second-month sickness absence. The exercise should identify the reporting route, the salary payment process and the documents needed. Also decide what happens if the person responsible is away. A small employer gains resilience from a backup contact and a clearly stored confirmation of cover; neither requires complex software. Set an onboarding completion date and have the founder sign off outstanding points rather than assuming that the accountant or broker has handled them.

Trade-offs and implementation

An offer letter, a payroll entry and an insurer registration are three separate events. The company should establish which one triggers each administrative action. If the employee begins earlier than planned, the change must reach those handling insurance rather than remaining in a manager’s diary. A trial period is still an employment situation requiring the relevant protections. Employment uncertainty should not be confused with permission to postpone the review.

Prepare the first payslip before it is issued and explain unfamiliar deductions. This creates an opportunity to discover a missing registration or inconsistent salary figure while correction is straightforward. Employees also need to know how to report an accident outside ordinary office hours. A short orientation with the insurer contact, reporting form and secure route for medical certificates turns a purchased policy into a usable arrangement. Review the procedure after the first hire, then reuse the corrected process for subsequent employees.